Eastbourne tennis under threat – painful timing but there is hope for 2025 and beyond...
Eastbourne Tennis under threat? After exactly half a century, the timing is painful and the irony is hard to escape.
When Martina Navratilova, with Billie-Jean King and Chris Evert and others, first headed for the Sussex coast, they were pioneers and radicals, blazing a trail which others would follow.
Women’s tennis would no longer be the irritating younger sister to the men’s game but would become the sparkling, breathtaking, highly professional game that we now enjoy. And Devonshire Park has its proud place in that reshaping of the sport.
Fifty years on, our Eastbourne tournament faces downgrading. Gentle readers, let’s not bore you with the sporting politics, but there is room for huge celebrations in a few weeks’ time, here in a radiant Eastbourne!
The players absolutely love Eastbourne. It is, in all senses, a breath of fresh air. Almost no other tournament in the world offers such a green setting and such an exhilarating sense of freedom. I believe the Majorca tournament fringes the Mediterranean, but heck, our sparkling English Channel is just an overhit forehand away from the Devvy Park.
And player after player is quick to praise the freedom of a relatively small town, the stroll to the hotel, the evening suppers at Pomodoro’s (other restaurants are available!).
It is equally true of the media pack. We sometimes cheekily call them the DFLs (Down From London!), but they are hugely welcome in our town, at our event. In many sports, the very best of expertise and wisdom comes from former players – and tennis draws on an outstanding pool of them.
Add to that the Grass Factor: the squeezingly short season, rooted in Britain and northern Europe, is the absolute favourite surface of very many players. The grass game is so much quicker, and often more exciting, than clay or hard-court tennis. Within a few short weeks, British venues have always offered women’s tournaments in Nottingham, Birmingham, Eastbourne – and at slightly lower level, Ilkley and Surbiton.
The Eastbourne week leads directly into Wimbledon – ironically a rather double-edged sword, since players can sometimes be nervous of a tweaked tendon or a sore calf muscle. But on balance, many of the top female players have always centred in on the Devonshire Park.
The men’s tournament is lower-ranked and has always been regarded as an undercard, but it often draws exciting young players: think of Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur. And it nicely fills out the schedules, especially in the second half of the week.
So why shouldn’t the world’s tennis elite still be setting the satnav for Eastbourne? Well, the lowering of the Devonshire Park week from a WTA 500 tournament, to 250 status is potentially a burst tyre on the team bus. As the rules currently stand, it means that only three women out of the top 30 world rankings may feature.
But let’s pause the doom and despair for a moment. Firstly, it isn’t out of the question that the “three in 30” rule might change.
Where will the other 27 be warming up for Wimbledon? Could we see players and coaches – and agents – lobbying for change? Those discussions will also centre on prize money, of course, but purely from the playing point of view Eastbourne still has a lot of leverage.
Secondly, the Eastbourne regulars – and there is a huge following for the Devvy Week – are not a bunch of autograph-chasers and personality-hunters. Yes, of course we all love the big names, and yes, it’s true that your Herald reporter once carried Martina Hingis’s kitbag (there wasn’t a proper steward in sight) and once stood next to Simona Halep’s mum as the Romanian lass breezed through an early round on Court Three.
But there is an enormous pool of talent in world tennis – possibly more so in the women’s game than the men’s – and to rank 29 in the world, rather than 49 or 59, is often just a reflection of current and recent form.
The Eastbourne week never fails to produce surprises, breathtaking comebacks, brilliant youngsters whom many spectators had scarcely heard of. Glancing back at my own notes from June 2023, a couple of my own stand-out moments included a gripping three-setter between GB hopeful Jodie Burrage and young Russian Kamilla Rakhimova – both unseeded.
Perennial favourite Camila Giorgi produced some sublime tennis from a world ranking of 36, while Guernsey’s favourite daughter Heather Watson won our hearts, as she does every year, from an outsider ranking.
Take heart. Relish the excitement of Eastbourne 2024, and rule nothing out for 2025.