With the 2025 Liverpool International Tennis Tournament just weeks away organisers say the event has established the city as a major hub in the UK for international junior tennis. Tony McDonough reports

June sees the return of the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament which has been welcoming some of the biggest names in the sport since 2002.

First held in Calderstones Park as a warm-up tournament for Wimbledon, the tournament has seen appearances from some of the sport’s biggest legends including Martina Navratilova, Marion Bartoli, Ilie Nastase, Martina Hingis and Pat Cash.

Spectators at the event have also been able to see future tennis superstars at the beginning of their careers. Novak Djokovic played at Liverpool when he was 16 and 17, as did Caroline Wozniacki.

In recent years the tournament has been relocated to Liverpool Cricket Club in April and this year it will start on Thursday June 19 and conclude on Saturday, June 21.

Thousands of tennis fans will flock to watch top class action and organisers Northern Vision are also gearing up to welcome businesses from across the Liverpool city region for what is one of the corporate hospitality highlights of the year.

This year’s player line-up is still to be confirmed but Northern Vision is also keen to highlight the work it does in Liverpool all-year round to encourage participation in grassroots tennis among young people.

Tournament founder Anders Borg told LBN that over the years Northern Vision has gone beyond just organising the main event and has also significantly grown its engagement with local communities.

“In addition to the annual warm up tournament to Wimbledon we also organise international junior tournaments in Liverpool throughout the year and have firmly established Liverpool as a major hub in the UK for International junior tennis,” he said.

“The advantage of being  an organiser is that we are in a position to give local up and coming players wildcards to the tournaments to give them a chance of getting on the international junior tennis world ranking list. 

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“Some of the players participating in these tournaments have ambitions about becoming the best players in the world while most of them dream about playing college tennis in America and getting their whole education paid for. 

“An average tuition in America is around $50,000 plus expenses so a scholarship represents a value of around $250,000 USD.”

One major success story is Abi Redman, a young player from Liverpool who was handed a  wild card into the junior tournament played at the Liverpool Tennis Centre in November 2024.

She managed to win the ITF under-18 title ensuring that she now has been offered a full scholarship in the US. 

“I played my first ITF main draw in Liverpool in 2022, thanks to a wildcard from Anders,” said Abi. “It felt great to have somebody believing in me and giving me the opportunity to play at a much higher level.”

Anders added: “This is of course great for her and also for everyone involved with sponsoring the tennis tournaments throughout the year and this must be the greatest way community value can be measured.”

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