Leamington Tennis Court Club commemorates the 175th anniversary of the first game played there with special doubles match

Matt Fattorini, Chris Sampson, Olaf Dixon, Andy Dixon, Caroline Dixon.

Committee members at Leamington Tennis Court Club have commemorated the 175th anniversary of the first game played there by taking part in a special doubles match.

The Bedford Street club’s chairman, Andy Dixon, partnered Caroline Dixon [not related] to a resounding 8-2 victory over Matt Fattorini and Chris Sampson watched by the club’s president, Olaf Dixon, along with several of the club’s younger members assembled for the annual Under-30s tournament.

The event took place on December 29, exactly 175 years after the first match took place at the club in 1846.

This was the first of a number of events to be held over the coming year celebrating the continuing prosperity of the oldest tennis club in the world, whose chequered history and occasionally illustrious membership is the subject of a book by member Norman Hyde, Tennis the Leamington Way.