Marlborough Tennis

Fine & Country Club Championships 2026

Fine & Country Club Championships 2026: guidelines and rules

Key Dates

The Fine and Country 2026 Marlborough Tennis Club championships are now open for entry. Register here. 

We will start Round One on Friday May 1st when the draws will be posted and Finals Day is Saturday 12th September. The Roll Up Doubles competition takes place on 25th April. Juniors’ competitions will span under 10s, under 14s and under 18s and will be organised by Neil Watts.

Categories and Plate Competition

We will play all the listed categories provided there are at least eight entries for each. Plate competitions – for first round losers - will only take place if there are 16 entries in the first-round draw, so 16 singles players or 16 doubles pairings.

The categories are as below and the draw for each will be published on this website and in the LTA Competition software. Copies will be posted in the clubhouse:

  • Ladies doubles  Register here. 
  • Mixed doubles  Register here. 
  • Mens singles    Register here. 
  • Ladies singles  Register here. 
  • Mens doubles  Register here. 
  • Roll Ups – 25th April, one day tournament to kick off the season. Sign up here.
  • Masters – over 60’s by age qualification and invitation only. This will be doubles only with the aim to have mixed pairs where numbers allow. Register on Club Spark. 
  • Improvers – by experience and ability. There will be doubles and singles based on the number of entries, using a Box Format. If numbers allow we will run single sex and mixed sex categories. Sean Moir will set up a whatsapp group to determine the level of interest. Register on Club Spark, not the LTA site. A single entry fee applies

Choice of Partners

  • Doubles: Entries must be made individually and you can select and name a partner for Men's, Ladies', and Mixed Doubles. If you have a preferred partner, make sure they enter as well and pay the fee. You will be assigned a partner if you don't nominate one. The entry fee is £5 per player.
  • Roll-Up Doubles: players’ partners will be picked at random.

Masters

Following our survey this will be a new category in 2026. Members aged 60 and over on April 25th will be invited to take part. The aim is to play mixed doubles using a box format over the summer months. As this year is a trial for the Masters event, there is no entry fee.

Entries, Fees and Formats

  • Entry for the Singles and all Doubles (with the exception of the Roll Up Doubles) is just £5 per category, and advance payment is needed.
  • Improvers Doubles and Singles: entry for the Improvers Championships will be by invitation only and Sean Moir will manage this category. £5 entry fee per category to cover finals new balls and prizes.
  • Playing Formats: for Singles, Mixed Doubles, Ladies Doubles, Mens Doubles, all first-round matches will be played using the ‘Fast Four’ format (with a ten point third “set” tiebreak if needed) to ease pressure on court time. From the second round on, matches will revert to the two full sets and a third set 10-point tie break where needed. We would expect Fast Four matches to take one hour, and three set matches should see court bookings of two hours.

Club rules – the small print

  • Eligible Players: Members who have paid their membership fees and entry fee before the start of the Championships. No payment, no entry. Entries submitted after the closing date risk not being included. 
  • Late entries for new joiners: The club will endeavour to include new members who join after the start dates, but ony if the LTA software makes this possible and in Round One of the competition only, to encourage play and participation.
  • Age:  players must be 13 years or older on 1st May 2026
  • Use of LTA Competition software LTA software automatically determines player seedings based on your World Tennis Number. See how it is calculated, and the LTA guidance if you think the number is wrong. As we use more standardised competition results, number accuracy should improve. This system saves very substantial volunteer time. This update was provided at last years Club Championships.
  • Fair play guidance. All players are expected to adhere to the fair play guidance and need to read these rules. This guidance is extracted from County level tennis rules.
  • Timings: Entries are open now and close on Tuesday April 28th, 5 pm.  Draws will be posted by Friday 1 May. Deadlines for the completion of each round are detailed below. For any matches not completed by the deadline, all players risk being disqualified.
  • Timetable: 1st round by 13 June / 2nd round by 5 July / 3rd round by 8 August /Quarter finals by 22 August/ Semi-finals by 5 September
  • Schedule: Players arrange their own matches, bring their own balls (ideally new or in very good condition) and book their own courts.
  • Doubles weekend on the weekend of 4-5 July, courts 3-6 will be made available as a priority for any doubles matches that need to be completed. Booking arrangements will be published in due course.
  • Finals Day. Players must be available to play on Finals Day, 12 September. Please don’t enter if you cannot play on 12 September. Avoid entering more categories that you might be able to physically cope with on a Finals day.  
  • Injury: Any player who becomes injured must notify their opponents and organisers immediately. An injured player should withdraw from the competition if they are unable to play a scheduled match within the deadlines published for the appropriate round.
  • Swapping a doubles partner, round one: A replacement will be allowed where a first round match has not been played in the main competition, for example where a player has had to withdraw for injury.
  • Key Contacts: Penny Smith for Singles, Ladies Doubles, Mens Doubles, Mixed Doubles. Peter May for Masters, Charlie Fraser for Roll Up Doubles and Sean Moir for Improvers. Key Contacts will be the final arbiters in the event of any disputes. There is no escalation procedure.