Serving a love for tennis

Hope and Richmond Tennis Clubs served up the nationwide Love Tennis initiative on Sunday for future Lulu Sun’s and Novak Djokovic’s to ace the tennis basics for free.

The annual event also aims to strike new player and coaching membership deals in the build-up to summer, and attendees could also go in the draw to score a trip to the highest-attended Grand Slam tennis event, the Australian Open.

Ngaire Calder, who coordinates tennis programmes in Nelson Tasman, says more than 80 bounced onto its courts, and while the total number of new registered members could not be confirmed until later, it was a day loved by all.

“We’ve been showing [the public] what the club offers and all of our programmes for the summer… it’s also good to give kids activities for after school for them to meet new people, and develop things like their hand-eye coordination,” she says.