Stories of transformation and tennis

After speaking to hundreds of coaches, players and other members of the tennis community, we built a good understanding on where things could be improved. 

We discovered the online impression of tennis presented a digital barrier before people even hit the court. So, we redesigned the LTA website, simplifying the navigation and adding stories of a diverse group of players who play the game to inspire to pick up a racket. We also ensured that the site meets the official standards for people with disabilities and other impairments. 

We learnt that more could be done to harness the power of the tennis community off the court. So, we helped the LTA introduce Advantage, a new membership portal for players and fans to organise bookings, matches and rankings in one place. The system provides a way to access personalised content, from coaching tips for first timers to sharing ticket sale details for upcoming tournaments. In 2022 it surpassed one million sign ups, 12 months ahead of schedule. 

And we realised that getting the tennis club volunteers and community coaches up to speed on the latest technology is vital if clubs are going to attract and interact with a new generation of players. To address this, more than 100 digital champions from across our business, ranging from analyst to partner, have volunteered to support those at the heart of tennis to move their bookings online and promote themselves on social platforms – and everything in between.

Launched in October 2022, we worked with the LTA on a new service to find and book tennis activity. The new online platform shows the court closest to you, the hours when it’s next available and the court surface you’ll be playing on. Allowing anyone, anywhere, at any time, to make a court booking within just a few minutes, on one of 3,901 courts across the country.

What’s more, the LTA can now see which courts are being accessed by communities, the tennis classes going ahead and the areas where future outreach may be needed.

Key to our approach has been focusing on people as much as technology. The people who play. The people who don’t play. And the people who, like coaches and volunteers, that make the game what it is – so as we transform the sport, we don’t lose what makes it special.   

To help show the long-term impact of digital transformation, we captured the inspiring stories of people who’ve either benefitted from tennis being more open or who are playing a role in helping to change the game.  

Working with award-winning film maker Harry Hitchens, our film series, Tennis Opened Up, tells the stories of four people in the UK tennis family.

Finally, we wanted to spotlight our team at Deloitte Digital, who were responsible for squeezing Judy Murray into a tube of tennis balls using Augmented Reality (AR). Yes, really… 

AR is a growing area for business. And our humble tube of tennis balls shows how technology-enabled experiences like this could be a powerful way to engage new players and fans. We recorded different messages to share with different tennis audiences – like thanking LTA coaches and volunteers for everything they do.

The film goes behind the scenes to learn more about how the experience was created and the challenges they encountered along the way. It also follows the team as they go to the National Tennis Centre to hand out tubes of tennis balls to students from our 5 Million Futures partner schools, who were in Roehampton for a tennis taster day.

As for what Judy thought of being turned into an avatar and squeezed into a tube of tennis balls, you’ll have to listen in to our Green Room podcast episode with her and our global technology strategy and transformation partner Mark Lillie, as they discussed whether technology can make us more active.

We’re incredibly proud to work with the LTA. The change we’re helping to make is as much about inclusion and opening up society as it is about tennis or digital transformation. We’re looking forward to continuing our partnership and hope that the impact of our work will be felt for many years to come.