“Tennis is on the up.” So says Joe Chadwick, the professional at Cheltenham Civil Service Tennis Club, and someone who is hugely enthusiastic about the sport.

The Emma Raducanu affect has been massive, of course, but it’s not just her remarkable US Open win that has helped drive the sport forward in this country.

There are others too such as Great Britain no 1 Cameron Norrie who, at the time of writing is no 11 in the world. Then there’s Joe Salisbury, who is the best doubles player in the world, while three-times major winner Andy Murray is still very much hanging in there.

Their success has all contributed to the increased feelgood factor in the sport around the country and with Wimbledon almost upon us, the good times are surely set to continue.

That’s certainly the belief of Chadwick, who has overseen a big upturn in the fortunes of Cheltenham Civil Service since joining the club in 2018.

But while the exploits of Raducanu et al have certainly played a part in making tennis more appealing, it’s also true to say that it takes a lot of hard work at grassroots level if clubs are to capitalise on that feelgood factor.

And fortunately for Cheltenham Civil Service, Chadwick is not afraid of a bit of hard work.

“We’ve grown our membership from 70 to over 100,” he told The Local Answer. “I think it’s actually 105 and we’ve just got our first junior members.”

Chadwick hopes there will be many more to follow.

“We’ve now got 30 junior players in the club receiving coaching,” Chadwick continued. “When I started there weren’t any at all.

“Many adults also receive coaching as well, the aim is to continue to grow the club.”

Chadwick runs four junior group coaching sessions a week and has started a Friday afternoon junior club which is open to all youngsters.

He also runs a beginners/improvers adults session on Saturday mornings as well as offering one-to-one sessions, so it’s not difficult to see why tennis is becoming more and more popular at Cheltenham Civil Service.

“I think after the last lockdown, people were just grateful to be allowed out and about again, so that helped,” he said.

“But the thing about tennis is that it is not as expensive as people may think. Yes, if you want to be a professional, compete in different tournaments and have a regular coach but that is a different thing entirely.

“What we offer is for people to play tennis, enjoy being outside in the fresh air and to have fun, we’re an inclusive club.

“The club also offer competitive play with four men’s teams, four women’s teams and three mixed teams in the various Gloucestershire Leagues.

“The women’s team got promoted to the Premier Division for this summer which was a huge achievement.”

The club’s facilities off Tewkesbury Road are jolly good too because they have four hardcourts, two of which are floodlit.

And it’s not only tennis that is played at Cheltenham Civil Service, of course.

“It’s a big sports ground,” said Chadwick. “They play football, cricket, rugby, squash, archery, lacrosse. And it’s not just for civil servants, anyone can join.”

Chadwick is a big supporter of the club as a whole, but his primary focus is obviously the tennis.

He is understandably proud of the big strides forward made by the tennis section and anyone wanting to know more should get themselves down to the tennis club’s open day on Sunday 17^th July, an event which runs from 3-6pm. Joe Chadwick will be there, of course.

For more information, visit https://cheltenhamtennis.club/