Wimbledon finished yesterday with Roger Federer winning his seventh Men’s Singles title under the centre court roof, and Andy Murray winning the hearts of the public after putting up a brave fight as the first British man to compete in the final for 76 years.
The continuing poor weather will hamper the traditional rush to pick up rackets in the wake of Wimbledon but the sun did shine on Saturday when 59 tennis clubs around Ireland opened up their facilities to the public as part of the BNP Paribas supported National Tennis Day.  Members gave up their own access as face painting, bouncy castles and barbecues were laid on to tempt those who would only be occasional players to try the sport.
The English Lawn Tennis Association is hoping to benefit from a boost after Murray’s display, and the prominence tennis and Wimbledon will receive again during the Olympics later this month and the ATP Tour finals in London in November.
The sport in Britain invests €60 million a year in development and facilities.  There are 23,000 tennis courts across the country and club membership has grown by 11% in the past year to a figure of 576,000.  Much of the growth is in juvenile tennis where innovation through the introduction of adapted rules and mini tennis has had a significant impact.
Two of the juniors who competed at Wimbledon were called Liam Broady and Katy Dunne, reflecting some Irish connection and the sport here claims membership in excess of 80,000 at the 200 clubs affiliated to Tennis Ireland.
Hopefully The National Tennis Day on Saturday will have added to this number of players in a sport where participation can continue well beyond that of most sports.
Recent main stories on Sport for Business

Find out more about how Sport for Business can be of benefit to you
Subscribe today for the free Sport for Business daily news digest