A charity that helps disabled people play tennis is celebrating its 10th anniversary by pushing to expand its programme further.
Bright Ideas for Tennis was founded in 2013 by former Great Britain Davis Cup player Danny Sapsford with the aim of increasing grass-roots participation.
Sapsford works with tennis clubs to raise money to improve facilities and expand programmes, with more than £1million invested into the sport, but it is the charity’s I Play 30 scheme that has become its driving force.
Bright Ideas for Tennis pairs clubs across the country with local special educational needs and disability (SEND) schools and organisations to put on free sessions.
Sapsford told the PA news agency: “We’ve been growing steadily and the last couple of years we’ve been opening 30-35 venues every year and we’re hoping to do that for the next few years.
“My personality is someone who likes to please people and likes to be helpful so it’s quite heartwarming to see all the people we’ve given the opportunity to play tennis.
“I love going to the site visits to watch them. Quite often I’m driving three or four hours for a 45-minute session and in the car I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, what am I doing this for’? But it’s worth it just to see the smiles on their faces, it’s lovely.
“The sessions that we run, as much as we’re teaching tennis, I think more than anything we’re teaching life skills.
“Last year we did a survey, we had a couple of doctors from Cambridge University who helped us, and they were so excited with the results.
“It was proving that tennis was not just good for your physical health but it was good for your mental well-being and the parents were saying their kids are now becoming more accepted in schools and are making more friends, they’re more confident and less anxious, so all the attributes we were hoping to achieve, which was brilliant.”
Ariadne Katsoulis and Paul Valentine run coaching programmes at clubs in Banbury, Bicester and Brackley and work with two SEND schools through Bright Ideas for Tennis.
Katsoulis told PA: “At the beginning when the children arrived, no one had had the opportunity to play tennis before, they didn’t feel comfortable, but after two or three weeks, they were so happy.
“That change in the children, it was incredible. They were excited to come, they wanted to play, and the improvement that they’ve made, I don’t have words.
“We give our time for free when we could have been earning money in other sessions but, seeing these children that have never had the possibility to do the sport – I was working with a blind child, and him achieving hitting the ball, and how he excited was, that’s the biggest reward that a tennis coach can wish for.”
They are hoping soon to add a third school and Valentine does not believe they would have been able to put on the sessions without Sapsford, saying: “It’s quite hard for us to take the lead on it.
“What Danny’s doing is creating a link between the coaches and the schools and that’s the big thing, then supporting us as we go through the programme. It’s a great organisation.”
Previously a one-man band, Sapsford now has a small team, while ambassadors include Tim Henman and Joe Salisbury, and he is hoping to increase the charity’s profile and budget to help introduce the sport to even more people.
It has been a decade of hard work, and the 54-year-old, who reached the third round of Wimbledon in 1999, said: “As with everything, it has its ups and downs and you have good days and bad days.
“I have weeks where every phone call I’m making I’m hitting a dead end and no one wants to help you but then you have other days where everything seems to fall in place.
“We’re at the stage now where we’ve got a really good infrastructure, we’ve built a really good reputation, lots of people want to work with us, so, if we did have a tiny little bit more money, we’d be able to do a lot more good.”
Nadal refuses to rule out Roland-Garros return
Rafael Nadal refused to rule out returning to Roland-Garros in the future, suggesting this French Open may not be his last after all.
Nadal is widely anticipated to retire after the 2024 season, meaning this year's French Open would be his final appearance at a major he has won a record 14 times.
The Spaniard has been handed a tough draw, with Nadal going up against Alexander Zverev in the first round.
However, ahead of that tie, Nadal told reporters this may not in fact be his last showing at Roland-Garros.
"If I have to tell you it's 100 per cent my last Roland Garros, sorry but I will not, because I cannot predict what's going on. I hope you understand," Nadal said.
"I don't want to close 100 per cent the door, because it's a very simple thing.
"First, I'm enjoying playing tennis, more or less healthy and playing without limitation.
"Maybe in one month and a half I'll say 'OK, it's enough, I can't keep going'. But today I cannot guarantee that it's going to be the last one."
Nadal has endured an injury-hit few seasons, but after playing in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome, feels he is getting closer to true fitness.
"I'm feeling better. That's the truth," Nadal added, appearing more cheerful than he has in recent months.
"Probably because we did things to try to feel better and we have been working without a stop to keep going with the process, to try to arrive here in a proper way."
Nadal's tally of 112 matches won at the French Open is more than any other player has managed when it comes to match wins at a single major, seven ahead of Roger Federer's tally of 105 at Wimbledon.
He expects a tough test against Zverev, though a potentially good omen is that he is the only player with over 10 wins against top-five opponents at Roland-Garros since the ATP Rankings were published in 1974, with 20 such victories.
"It's a super-tough first round. Maybe I go there and I repeat the disaster of Rome. It's a possibility. I don't want to hide that," Nadal said.
"But in my mind is something different, play much better and give myself a chance to be competitive. I didn't play against this level of opponent in a super-long time.
"The rest of the things are just talking and talking, and in the end don't matter. It's about my feelings and my feelings are better. I want to enjoy that match."
Alcaraz 'a little bit scared' by ongoing arm problem ahead of French Open bow
Carlos Alcaraz says he is feeling better ahead of the French Open, but still has concerns about ongoing issues with his right forearm.
The world number three reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros 12 months ago, losing out to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, but his preparations have been far from ideal this time around.
Alcaraz has been dogged by an injury to his right forearm during the clay-court season, which forced him to withdraw from Barcelona and Rome, while his fitness struggles were evident in his Madrid Open quarter-final defeat by Andrey Rublev.
The Spaniard admits he may have to adapt his game plan against J.J. Wolf in the opening round, but he was optimistic on media day in the French capital.
"I'm feeling better," he smiled. "At least I can practise and hit balls without pain. That's a really good point for me. I came here to this tournament with not as many matches as I wanted, but I'm focusing on practice.
"I'm not feeling any pain when I step on the court in practice, but I'm still thinking about it when I am hitting forehands. I'm a little bit scared about hitting every forehand 100 per cent, so I have to change it in my first match.
"It's Roland Garros, and it's a really special tournament. Everybody wants to have good results here. This tournament is one of the main reasons that I'm practising every day. I want to be a better player, to be able to win these kinds of tournaments.
"I'm practising well. I'm getting in rhythm. I'm getting confidence [from] the practice and that is really important, and I think I don't need too many matches to get to my 100 per cent level."
Zverev gearing up to face 'peak Nadal' in Roland Garros opener
Alexander Zverev is preparing to face a Rafael Nadal at the peak of his powers when they collide in the first round at the French Open.
The fourth seed takes on the 14-time winner in the most eye-catching tie of the opening round at Roland Garros, where they memorably locked horns in the 2022 semi-finals.
It looked set to be a classic encounter on Court Philippe Chatrier until Zverev suffered a horrifying ankle ligament injury at the back end of the second set, following which he was forced to retire.
The German admits that will be in the back of his mind two years on, and the three-time semi-finalist is fresh from claiming his first ATP Masters title in three years at the Italian Open last time out.
Nadal, meanwhile, has suffered an almost endless battle with injuries since that last-four clash, but stepped up preparations for his Roland Garros swansong with successive appearances in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
Nevertheless, Zverev is ready to face an inspired Spaniard, who boasts an incredible 112-3 record at this event.
"In my mind, I'm going to play peak Rafa Nadal," the 27-year-old said. "That's what I expect him to be. I expect him to be at his absolute best. I expect him to play the best tennis he's played in a long time on this court.
"I wanted to play Rafa again in my career, in his career, because I didn't want my last memory of me playing against Rafa to be me leaving the court in a wheelchair.
"Ideally, I would have liked to play him in the later stage of the tournament, but it is how it is now. He is unseeded this year. I am seeded. It's a tough draw, but it's a tough draw for both of us. We'll see how it goes on Monday."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
