This year’s Lexus Ilkley Trophy tennis tournament gets underway on the lush grass courts of the Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club from Saturday (15th June).
A host of top British and international male and female players will head to the picturesque West Yorkshire town as part of their preparations for next month’s Wimbledon Championships.
Former Wimbledon semi-finalists Denis Shapovalov and Richard Gasquet headline the ATP Challenger men’s field this year, alongside former World No.7 David Goffin, while talented Americans Claire Lui and Katie Volynets will provide stern opposition for British rising star Lily Miyazi in the ITF 100 women’s event.
The Lexus Ilkley Trophy has established itself as a key fixture during the British grass court season and is the biggest professional tennis event in the North of England and the only annual professional men’s or women’s tournament held in Yorkshire.
It has proved a popular stop for overseas players, who enjoy the world class court surface as well as the Club’s unusually picturesque surroundings. How many global tennis tournaments allow players to serve aces in the shadow of the Yorkshire Dales, with the River Wharfe flowing nearby and the iconic Cow and Calf rocks peering down from nearby Ilkley Moor?
The tournament, which is run by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), is also popular with locals and visitors alike, with many buying tickets year after year and combining tennis with a visit to one of West Yorkshire’s most cherished tourist destinations. The Club is a short walk from the centre of town as well as Ilkley station, where trains to and from Leeds run every half an hour.
Its extensive hospitality operation has also proved to be a hub for businesses keen to wine and dine clients in between forehands and backhands.
There is always plenty going on off the court too, with pop-up food trucks serving a range of lunch and snack options, as well as one-off events planned for this year, such as a talk by BBC tennis commentator Andrew Castle and a tennis-themed art exhibition.
The LTA recently announced that the Lexus Ilkley Trophy will remain on the British tennis calendar in 2025 and beyond, despite a shake-up of the pre-Wimbledon tournament line-up which saw the creation of a new top tier women’s event at Queen’s and the first grass court tournament of the British summer moving from Surbiton to Birmingham.
For tickets to this year’s Lexus Ilkley Trophy or to find out more about the tournament, go to www.lta.org.uk/fan-zone/international/ilkley-trophy/
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