Former British number one Tim Henman celebrated two decades of involvement in 'Play Your Way to Wimbledon', Powered by Vodafone, as more junior players were inspired on their tennis journey.  

Henman took to the world-renowned lawns of SW19 to talk to more than 50 junior tennis players at the national finals of the largest individual mass participation tennis competition in the UK.   

The former world number four won 15 career ATP tour titles and reached six Grand Slam semi-finals, becoming the first British man to reach the Gentlemen’s Singles semi-finals at Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in 1970.  

Henman, a Vodafone Ambassador, returned to where it all started on the courts at Wimbledon to motivate the next generation through a junior coaching clinic.  

He said: "My involvement goes way back to when this first started in 2002 and really using Wimbledon as the character to inspire the next generation.  

"Now the partnership with Vodafone means Play Your Way to Wimbledon really speaks about encouraging that next generation and giving them that access and opportunity.  

"Tennis is a game that you can play for life so it's about encouraging more and more people to play at a young age.  

"The standard seems like it gets better and better every year, we have thousands of kids participating and then a small number progress to Wimbledon.  

"It's a great environment, the enthusiasm and energy of all the kids is great and I think it's been a fantastic week. This is a great way to round it off."  

Bournemouth Echo:

Formerly known as the Road to Wimbledon, the competition launched in March and is delivered in partnership by the LTA, The All England Lawn Tennis Club and Vodafone.   

Grassroots tennis remains the heartbeat of the sport at all age groups, with competition organisers planning to launch adult and disability categories in 2023.

This year’s tournament delivered over 10,000 playing opportunities across singles and doubles competitions in 800 venues.

Henman hopes that the increasing focus on junior players in Britain through events such as Play Your Way to Wimbledon will help encourage the newest generation of tennis players to evolve, much like it did with teenage star Emma Raducanu, who won last year's US Open as a qualifier.  

Henman said: "To me, it's about getting more and more kids playing the game and when you get a role model like Raducanu, who's very inspirational, it makes a big difference. 

"You can see how much the kids here have enjoyed themselves, the format is very good with the under-14s and the under-18s using doubles so it can be a team game as well. 

"It's a great first year with the partnerships with Vodafone and I hope we can bank on that.  

"It's about the base of the pyramid of grassroots tennis, getting more and more youngsters playing the game.

"I think there's such an upside to tennis, it's such a great sport and if young kids can be out there giving everything then it really speaks about the process. This event is going to carry on having great success in the future."

Play Your Way to Wimbledon, Powered by Vodafone, is a junior tournament that gives players an opportunity to follow in their heroes’ footsteps and compete on the grass courts at Wimbledon. The All England Club and LTA are proud to partner with Vodafone to relaunch and expand the largest individual mass participation tennis competition in the UK – for more information visit wimbledon.com