NEW COACHING FEES
The committee agreed to increase the hourly rate for tennis lessons to £45 per hour. It's the first increase in prices for over 3 years. A full breakdown of the pricing structure can be found in the COACHING section of this website.
SPRING JUNIOR SQUADS
The new junior after-school squads for the Spring term are up on this site in the Coaching/Junior Squads section. They start on the week of January 12th. It's an 11-week cycle with a break in February for the half-term week. There are still spaces available for most of the squads.
JUNIOR SOCIALS
The Friday after-school kids socials will begin again on January 16th. The sessions are 4.30-6pm for Orange Ball 6-12 years and the social for the older children begins at 6pm and finishes at 7.30pm. As before, no booking is required and you pay £10 cash (non members) or £5 (members) on arrival for this popular, fun session.
SPENCER LAWN TENNIS CLUB SPRING LEAGUES 2026 RULES AND REGULATIONS
These regulations are drawn up by the Spencer Tournament Committee (on behalf of the Spencer Lawn Tennis Club ) who may vary them at their discretion. Such regulations will apply to the 2026 Spencer Spring Leagues except where amended or superseded by special regulations.
The Spring Leagues under these regulations shall be conducted by the Spencer Tournament Committee, whose decision on all matters relating thereto shall be final.
The Spring Leagues are open only to members of the Spencer Lawn Tennis Club as at 1 February 2026.
The Spencer Tournament Committee may divide any or all of the Spring Leagues into groups and/or divisions at their discretion, or if deemed necessary, run the League in a knockout format.
The Spencer Tournament Committee has the right to refuse any entry, and to transfer any entry where it deems appropriate.
League Rules
1. The 2026 Spring Leagues will run from 21 February to 25 April 2026, with the Finals for all Leagues to be played on 25 April 2026. The full timetable is as follows:
· Entries open: 5 February 2026
· Entries close: 17 February 2026
· Groups decided by: 20 February 2026
· Leagues start: 21 February 2026
· Round robin matches played by: 3 April 2026
· Semi-finals played by: 18 April 2026
· Finals: 25 April 2026
2. The 2026 Spring Leagues will be run for the following categories:
· Open Singles (available to men and women)
· Women’s Singles
· Men's Doubles
· Women’s Doubles
3. Women may elect to join the open singles league, however men are not permitted to join a women’s league. Such election needs to be made clear to the Tournament Committee before the entry deadline.
4. The top 7 players by World Tennis Number (“WTN”) and 1 wildcard in each category shall be placed into two groups (Group A and Group B) of four players each. Players in each group shall play each other in a round robin format within the play by dates set by the Tournament Committee. The two players with the most points in Group A and Group B shall progress to the Semi-Finals, with the winners progressing to play in the Finals by 25 April 2026. A Bronze Medal match shall also be played by the unsuccessful semi-finalists, to be played at their convenience.
5. The Leagues shall be organised as follows:
· Platinum League: The top 8 players in each category, by WTN or otherwise
· Gold League: The top 9 to 16 players in each category
· Silver League: The top 17 to 24 players in each category
· Bronze League: The top 25 to 32 players in each category
· Other leagues shall be added where necessary
6. Semi-Finals for each League are to be played at least one week before Finals Day i.e. by 18 April 2026, unless specifically permitted by the Tournament Committee.
7. Entrants shall be grouped by their WTN (Singles or Doubles as applicable) as at 17 February 2026, being the closing date for entries.
8. Points at the round robin stage shall be awarded as follows:
· Win: 2 points
· Loss: 1 point
· Walkover / Did not play: 0 points
9. Where players are on an equal number of points at the end of the round robin stage, the players’ positions shall be determined as follows:
· If three players are tied:
o by the percentage of sets won in total. If this is still equal, then;
o by the percentage of games won in total.
· If two players are tied:
o By the winner of the match between the players.
10. Wildcards will be determined by the Tournament Committee, where appropriate. Such situations include but are not limited to where a player’s WTN does not noticeably reconcile to their playing ability.
11. The League will close for entries at close of play on 17 February 2026, with the draw being open by 21 February 2026.
12. Finalists must be available to play their Finals match on Finals Day. Otherwise, players must withdraw from the Semi-Final stage.
13. The winners of each League (excepting the Platinum League) shall be promoted to the next highest League in subsequent Leagues by the decision of the Tournament Committee.
14. Match results in the Spring League shall be counted for a player’s WTN.
15. The Leagues will be administered in the Matchspace app. To be able to enter, you need to download the app from the Apple app store or Google Play. It is free to download. Once downloaded, simply enter the club code (“BGSFL-6135”), which will automatically connect you to the Spencer Club. Please contact us if you have any issues downloading the app or connecting to the club.
Match Rules
16. Matches shall be the best of 3 tie-break sets. Players may agree to play a championship tie-break to 10 points in place of a third set if all players agree.
17. One player or pair in each match shall be designated as the ‘home’ player(s). This means they are responsible for booking courts (this can be shared between players by agreement), arranging new balls for the match, and entering the result in the Matchspace app. The ‘home’ player(s) are required to offer at least 3 reasonable dates for the match to be played (reasonable to be adjudicated by the Tournament Committee where necessary). The cost of balls and floodlights should be shared equally between players.
18. The official ball of the Spring Leagues will be Dunlop ATP Championship balls, available to purchase from the Spencer bar or from the coaches.
19. Where matches are not able to be finished on time, e.g. if delayed by weather or taking longer than the court booking, then, where at all possible, play shall only be suspended at an even number of sets or games. For example, if a match is at one set all, 2-1 in the third set, then play shall be allowed until either 3-1 or 2-2 in the third set, as an even number of games will have been served in the third set. These rules will apply also in the event a match has started and needs to be rescheduled or postponed.
Spencer Tournament Committee
20. Disputes arising during the 2026 Spring Leagues shall be adjudicated by the Spencer Tournament Committee, whose decision shall be final. The Tournament Committee are:
· Evgeniy Zukin
· Vivian Ngan
· Joe Nicholson
· Richie van der Linde
MEMBERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The club is at full capacity and is no longer able to accomodate any new, off-peak or junior members. We are also closing our membership waiting list until a full review of the list has taken place.
Balls and Strings
Tennis balls are now available for sale behind the bar and cost £6 per tin. For those of you who don't know, Seb (coach) is our resident racquet stringer and provides an excellent service using top quality strings. If he's not around you can leave your racquet with any of the coaches who will make sure he gets it. If you need an overgrip or a replacement grip just ask Dave who can do it on the spot for you if he's not on court.
Also worth mentioning that we do have quite a few 2nd hand adult racquets, some new childrens shoes and some new junior racquets for sale. Proceeds from these will be sent to the Wandsworth Food Bank.