Tennis
Tennis has been played at Marlborough College since the 1920s when the facilities were first funded by the generosity of an anonymous OM and then enhanced by the installation of hard courts following a gift by the Marlburian Club. One hundred years later and tennis is now hugely popular, both as recreational exercise and as a high-performance sport.
For girls, tennis is the major summer sport. For boys, tennis is offered alongside cricket. Both girls and boys train regularly through the week and have at least one match per week. A talented squad player, who wishes to, can play tennis all year round.
The physical, tactical, mental and emotional dimensions of tennis, not to mention the individual/team dynamic of singles/doubles, make the sport a uniquely demanding and stimulating activity for young players. Every match provides a test of temperament and intelligence, as well as fitness and agility. Our pupils learn the importance of good preparation and the satisfaction of building successful doubles partnerships.
We are looking for tennis to go from strength to strength at Marlborough in the years ahead, and all new players will be warmly welcome.
Tom Kiggell
Head of boys' Tennis
Heidi Marvin
Head of girls' Tennis
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Facilities
We have 12 AstroTurf courts, as well as 13 hard courts in a beautiful setting. In addition, three of the boarding houses have their own courts. There is the opportunity to play indoors in Swindon on a weekly basis through the winter, and to train in the £3m state-of-the-art College gym. Crosby & Lawrence are on site to meet all equipment needs, including a specialist stringing service.
Fixtures and Tours
We have one or two matches every week through the summer. The College enjoys a strong fixture circuit allowing us to field two or three teams per age group each week, with four or five teams per age group against single-sex schools. We play fixtures against more than one school on the same day to try and cater for all the players who are keen to be involved in matches.
We are proud of our tennis heritage and play an annual trophy event for boys of all age groups against Harrow, Radley and Wellington, for the Jackson Cup named after Guy Jackson (PR 1935–40) who was a member of Ireland’s Davis Cup team and competed at Wimbledon eight times.
We are one of eight schools to compete in the annual Independent Schools Girls Tennis League trophy at Bradfield and won the tournament in 2021. We compete annually in the Aberdare and Glanville Cups (the National Schools U18 Tournaments), the equivalent trophy competitions at U15 and in the ISTA Championships. We play in the National Schools’ Championships, where our U15 girls regularly win their regional division.
We spend a week at Vale do Lobo on a pre-season tour in the Easter vacation. We also have training days at Bisham Abbey National Performance Centre.
Collaborations
Head Coach Martin Wright (LTA Level 4) leads a group of LTA coaches from local clubs who devise and deliver our training sessions. Martin is our link to the Wiltshire LTA Player Pathway. He and his team of five professional coaches deliver private lessons all year round. The teaching staff responsible for our tennis teams are ISTA-trained. Players can represent local clubs and Wiltshire in term-time and/or their own county in the holidays.