Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 4 January of new national lockdown restrictions to be introduced across England, the LTA can confirm that regrettably all indoor and outdoor tennis facilities will need to close.

This means we will be cancelling all tennis competitions up to Sunday 28th February 2021 which includes February Half Term Tournaments, 18U County Cup and County & District Leagues.

Some key points to highlight

• We will cancel all competitions up until the 28th February 2020 on the LTA Competition Management System
• Please log onto the Competition Management System and issue a full refund any entries you have received for all competitions impacted by the cancellation. You will not be impacted by transaction fees incurred in refunding entries.
• The rankings system will be suspended during the period of lockdown – as you will know we have already extended on the number of weeks that are included in the run this will continue for the time being and will be reviewed once we know when tennis activity can resume.
• The mid-season ratings run has been cancelled and the next rating run will take place at the end of the season.

If restrictions do start to relax earlier than expected we can look to restart some matchplay’s and local competitions to give players the opportunity to compete.  We continue to hope that a full programme will be able to run from Easter onwards.

The LTA believes tennis is a naturally socially distanced sport that is safe to play and gives people of all ages the opportunity to exercise with friends or relatives. Tennis is important for people’s physical and mental health and we will continue to liaise with the Government and ask them to allow players back on court as soon as possible.

We know that this is incredibly disappointing and frustrating news for all involved with our sport, as well as presenting further significant financial challenges. Further information on current financial support available from Government is available on the LTA’s website, and the LTA will also continue to engage with Government to help ensure that the tennis community is supported through the coming weeks and months.

Tennis Scotland and Tennis Wales are in a slightly different position so please read the specific updates via the LTA website.  Updates will continue to be provided on the LTA’s dedicated Coronavirus page.

Keith Carder
Head of Competition