National Tennis Centre (United Kingdom)
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The United Kingdom's 'National Tennis Centre at Roehampton in south west London was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 29 March 2007.
The centre was built by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). It has 16 outdoor courts, covering all the Grand Slam surfaces, 6 indoor courts, a gymnasium and sports science and medical facilities. It also houses the administration of the LTA, which was previously based at Kensington closer to central London.
The National Tennis Centre was built in response to a 1999 review by the LTA of the reasons for its sustained failure to produce world class tennis players (Tim Henman didn't come up through the LTA system, Andrew Murray spent his early and mid teens in Spain, and Greg Rusedski learned to play in Canada). It is inspired by the national tennis centres in the more successful tennis nations of France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the United States and will be a focus for high performance players and coaches.
Previously the LTA's elite training facilities were at Queen's Club, but they were inadequate for the purpose and Queen's is better known as a social club for wealthy Londoners than as a centre of sporting excellence. The LTA hopes that relocating to a facility dedicated to competitive tennis will help to bring about new culture in British tennis in which competition is given priority rather than social tennis. It sold Queen's Club back to the club members. The south west London location has been chosen because it is close to the venue of the Wimbledon Championships and many leading British players live in the area.
