Tennis: Drive for more British players

The Lawn Tennis Association is to launch the biggest-ever promotion of the sport in Britain with a week of initiatives from 23 to 30 May at a cost of approximately pounds 1m.

John Crowther, the LTA chief executive, unveiled the plans in London yesterday with the help of Britain's top two players, Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman.

The focus of the LTA drive is to attract more players, particularly children from six upwards, into the sport with a week of free access for players of all ages and abilities.

The promotion will involve private clubs, local authority courts and commercial tennis centres with coaches giving their services free of charge.

Crowther said: "At the moment there are 1.8 million people playing tennis regularly in Britain and we are hoping to push that up to 2.25million as soon as possible. If during the next five years we can push that figure up beyond 2.5 million we will consider it a great success."