Dating back to 1883, Framlingham tennis tournament is the oldest tournament in Britain besides Wimbledon. It was originally played at at Hurts Hall, near Saxmundham, but is now held in the impressive grounds of Framlingham College, overlooking Framlingham Castle. The setting is the perfect place to watch some brilliant tennis where stars of the future could be competing.
Over the years, players who have graced the grass courts at Framlingham have gone on to play on the professional tour circuit. Most notably, Christine Truman Janes MBE, president of Framlingham Tournament, went on to play at Wimbledon at the age of 16 and won the French Open at just 18. Christine is still involved with the tournament and will be present on finals day on Saturday August 12 to sign copies of her memoir and present the trophies.
More recent examples include Henry Patten, who played at Framlingham as a junior and grew up in Suffolk, and is currently ranked 51 in the world ATP doubles circuit after winning ten challenger doubles titles in 2022 with Julian Cash. The pair also made it to the second round of the Australian Open doubles this year.
This year will be the 128th Framlingham Tournament, starting on Monday August 7 and lasting until Saturday August 12; with more than 50 events taking place, it promises to be another fantastic tournament.
Looking back on last year, Kari Poacher, who won the open event and is a tennis coach at Framlingham College, reflected on how the win was really special to her. She hadn’t played the previous year, due to having her third child, and to be match ready for the 2022 tournament, she put in a lot of work, both on and off the court. It’s an important tournament for Kari as she’s played most years since she was 12 and even plans her holidays around the week.
In the semi-finals last year she played second seed and defending champion Isabelle Eaton. Winning this tough match gave her the boost she needed to go on to defeat the top seed, Kitty McWhirter, in a tight final which Kari closed out in a final set tiebreak. With her three daughters watching her victory, Kari hopes it will inspire them and looks forward to the possibility of watching them play at Framlingham.
For Kari, Framlingham has always been a family event. She has previously played in the handicap mixed doubles with her dad and the Suffolk ladies doubles with her sister, Holly, winning the event in 2016 and becoming the first sisters to do so. She admits the Suffolk finals day is her favourite day of the tournament, with the big crowd creating a great atmosphere for all the players competing.
This year, Suffolk finals day is on Thursday August 10, when all the tournament sponsors are invited to a pre-finals lunch. While the rest of the tournament is open to players from across the country, the Suffolk events are open only to players living in the county, creating a lot of local interest. It's the perfect setting to showcase the talent we have in Suffolk.
The combination of tennis and food is something of a theme throughout the week; on Thursday, there is an evening barbecue and a fun doubles competition, in which the combined ages of the partners has to equal 80+, adding an extra dimension to the matches. Tuesday evening (August 8) offers a charity event supporting Marie Curie. Throughout the week, players and spectators enjoy a café on site, which serves delicious breakfasts and lunches, hot and cold drinks, and snacks.
Framlingham tennis week is free to attend and watch all the matches, and there is plenty of parking close by. Top Spin Tennis also has a pop-up shop throughout the week where rackets can be strung and a variety of shoes, clothing and accessories are sold. The tournament attracts players of all ages and abilities, including Joan Hassell who plays for the Great British over-75s team and is still winning events at Framlingham. Last year, she won the women’s doubles 40+ event and was a semi-finalist in the women’s doubles handicap.
Aside from a healthy contingent of seniors, Framlingham also hosts a large series of junior tournaments with players hoping to follow in the footsteps of some of the tournament's distinguished alumni. One such junior is Saul Hindmarch, who has played at Framlingham for 10 years, since he first started playing tennis when he was six. Saul was introduced to the sport after being given a racket at primary school and has enjoyed it ever since.
Last year, he partnered his coach at Framlingham College, Richard Daynes, and they were semi-finalists in the Suffolk County Championships in the men’s doubles. He also won the under-18 singles title after beating the top seed in straight sets in the final. Speaking to Saul after the final last year, he highlighted the special atmosphere throughout the week at Framlingham, with everyone getting together to watch and play in the wide variety of tennis on offer.
Perhaps the reason for this special atmosphere is the hard-working team of officials and volunteers who pull the whole event together, led by Jeremy Scowsill, now preparing for his fourth tournament as chairman. It is a year-long commitment; Jeremy works with the committee to secure sponsors and patrons to generate enough money to hold the event which costs more than £33,000 to stage.
Social media and the website are updated regularly throughout the year, to encourage as many entries as possible and to ensure there are plenty of spectators. During the week of the tournament, Jeremy will be on hand to resolve any issues that arise and entertain VIP guests, sponsors and patrons, giving a few speeches as required. He also gets the fun role of presenting trophies to various event winners.
The tournament committee are well supported by Framlingham College, who host the event. The preparation of the grass courts is a significant commitment over many weeks leading up to the event and the college is also behind the team providing the café bar refreshments.
Game, set and match?
This year, as chairman, Jeremy is looking forward to visiting the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton on July 4, when the winners of the LTA national award for Competition of the Year will be announced. Framlingham Tennis Tournament has made it to the final shortlist of three, a huge honour in itself. The LTA awards recognise outstanding contributions to tennis in several categories, initially at county level, with the winners going through to regional level and the best three making it to the national final. The Framlingham committee were hoping to win the county stage, but are now hugely excited and honoured to have made it all the way to the national final.
Jeremy’s history with the tournament goes back to when he was just seven years old and his mother was part of the organising committee. He was taken along every day of the event and, over time, the Framlingham week became a special part of his summer holidays. His first match didn’t end as well as he had hoped. He drew the No1 seed and lost 6-0, 6-0. At the time the youngest age group was under-15s and there were no red balls which young players use today.
Framlingham now caters for a huge range of abilities, from under-8s to over-65s, with events for disabled players, fun charity events and the Open events which achieve a very high standard. When Jeremy was playing as a junior, not only was he expected to attend all week, but once younger members had finished their matches they would act as ball boys in the men’s and women’s finals, while adults would umpire. Jeremy recalls being a ball boy for Robin Drysdale who was a Wimbledon quarter finalist. Nowadays, umpires and ball crew must be qualified.
Jeremy didn't play after the age of 23, and moved to London for work. Back in Suffolk now, Jeremy joined the committee eight years ago and became chairman in 2019. He is focused on the future and his desire is to leave the tournament in a better state than he found it. He wants to increase diversity, inclusivity and create more opportunities for less able-bodied players to compete. He would love to see the next Emma Raducanu or Andy Murray playing at Framlingham as part of their tennis journey; he has a passion to increase the standard of the Open events, which includes increasing the prize money.
Jeremy’s favourite part of the tournament is the Thursday without a doubt, a day when he feels the Suffolk tennis fraternity all come together to meet, eat and enjoy a lot of wonderful tennis. It’s the day which welcomes the sponsors of the tournament to watch some of the best county tennis players battling it out for the County Championships. It concludes with a barbecue and the 80+ fun event in the evening. If there was a Suffolk sporting circuit of 'must attend' events in August, he says, Framlingham Tennis Tournament would be top of that list.
So, head off to Framlingham College between Monday August 7 and Saturday August 12 to watch and enjoy some great tennis.
