22 November 2019

Making tennis friends from the South of France to Speke in south Liverpool

Tony Puddifer

Tony had not planned to get into tennis but a family holiday in France changed all that. Now he has friendly rivalries with players he has met in the Liverpool Tennis League and a very specific goal for 2020

I got into tennis on a family holiday. My sister and her husband rented a chateau in the south of France for my parents golden anniversary and it just happened to come with a tennis court. My eldest sister plays at quite a high level in the senior leagues in Vancouver, so we ended up playing tennis every day. I really enjoyed trying to hit my sister with the ball! She is a lot better than I am at tennis.

My dad, who is 80, plays social tennis every Saturday at Liverpool Cricket Club 2pm-5pm (non-members welcome) so I started to play there every Saturday. My friend Ernie who also plays there told me about the Local Tennis League, so I joined on his recommendation.

Being in the league has definitely improved my game. When I started, I was just a base line player. I never felt comfortable near the net but the Local Tennis League really does give you a great opportunity to play against players of all different styles.

I have kept in touch with quite a few players I have met through the different rounds. I have had some great matches against Steven (still haven't beaten him yet), Paul and Raul - I always have a great game with these guys.

For next year, I have set myself a few goals, so I have been training quite a lot over the past few weeks. There is a great coaching session on Sundays nights 7-9 pm at David Lloyd in Speke with David Simms (£10 for non-members) so hopefully it won't be too long until I achieve my first goal, beating Steven ?      

The next round of the Liverpool Tennis League starts on 9 January, 2020. Join here by Monday 6 January.