Eastbourne’s special week is looming – and it’s not just tennis fans who can savour it

The WTA tour takes in four Grand Slams, several other top-ranked tournaments – most of them in major world cities – and a whole pyramid of supporting events in smaller venues. And as the sun climbs ever higher in a British midsummer, the all too short grass season is a flurry of action. Surbiton, Nottingham and Birmingham stage three successive weeks of WTA 250 tennis – before players, coaches, media and enthusiastic spectators head for the Devonshire Park to the higher-ranked WTA 500 Rothesay International.

Picture special from 2022’s Eastbourne international.

Eastbourne has welcomed the world’s top women for almost half a century – joined in the past decade or so by an ever stronger men’s ATP 250 competition. In fact, it’s the only combined grass court tournament in the world, at this high level. Many top players regard Eastbourne as a crucial tune-up for Wimbledon, and this year is no different. The initial entry list features seven of the world’s top ten women players – but in truth, the strength and breadth of WTA tennis is so strong that sensational new names are emerging all the time.

Just last week, at the French Open, we saw the stunning success of a young player like 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, and the stylish intelligence of Czechia’s little-known Karolina Muchova. With a number of main draw places still to be announced, keep your eyes peeled for further top names. Next Saturday and Sunday, the 24th and 25th, will actually provide some of the most exciting action, as players battle through the qualifying tournament.

And do look out for next week’s Herald, and the SussexWorld website, when we will take a closer look at the field.

But what makes Eastbourne unique? Stroll down College Road this week, and you will see a Devonshire Park in transformation. Stands and walkways, kiosks and tents, signs and banners. The Eastbourne tournament is a masterpiece of logistics and planning – but it has a style and character all its own.

Some of the other international venues – all of which have their merits of course – are huge, purpose-built and out of town. The Devonshire Park is tucked in the very heart of our town, nestled alongside theatres and art gallery, and scarcely more than an over-hit forehand volley from the sea. It’s probably the only venue where a server’s toss can be interrupted by swooping seagulls.

Players, officials and spectators alike can stroll from hotel or railway station, come through the gates, and instantly find themselves part of the action and the atmosphere. Our town being the “Village Eastbourne” that it is, you will probably bump into somebody you know. Office groups and lunch parties will be enjoying a day out. Harrassed schoolteachers will be obsessively counting heads. The local tennis clubs and charities have their stands, and everybody wears a smile.

In fairness, there are other venues which enjoy a similar jostle. The outside courts at Wimbledon always have that feel of eager enthusiasm. But for closeness of action, the Devonshire Park has no equal. Players on the tour are all used to playing – especially in the early days of a tournament week – in front of sparse arenas with far more empty seats than spectators. Not here: outside courts at the Devonshire Park will be lined with eager tennis-watchers who are close enough to offer a bottle of water to a weary player (no need, though: the ball crews will sort all that!). And both Centre Court and Court One will be packed.

And just one more thought. Like some vast travelling circus, the great sport of tennis rolls around the globe. The most recent great showpiece event, only a week ago, was the French Open in Paris. Same great names, same great on-court battles – but such a different setting and atmosphere. The crowds at Roland-Garros are known for their noisy, volatile participation: often raucous, sometimes really challenging for the players.

Add in the international tensions, with players from Russia and Belarus taking part as independent competitors, and there were moments in Paris when the very essence of healthy sporting competition seemed under threat. If you can keep your head, as our Sussex poet Rudyard Kipling put it, while all around you are baying and scorning…

Well, rest assured, the people of Eastbourne – and visitors from beyond – value the very joy and pleasure of their annual highlight. The Devonshire Park will be a haven of civility and broad smiles, and a green oasis of sporting good manners. Perhaps, very modestly, we can teach the world a thing or two.

Tennis on Eastbourne’s green lawns: you honestly can’t beat it. If you are still wavering, go on, grab a ground pass for Saturday or Sunday, mingle with like-minded folk, and just breathe it all in. You’ll have a ball.