Tennis awards: Abercorn and Rosewell clubs, plus two Edinburgh players given recognition

Clubs from Edinburgh and Midlothian and Capital players Sarah McFadyen and Jacob Fearnley are among the winners of the 2023 Tennis Scotland awards.

A small community club based in the east side of Edinburgh, Abercorn Lawn Tennis Club, which was established in 1919 and currently boasts 310 members, was recognised as Club of the Year. The club actively encouraged more women and girls to pick up a racquet, increasing their female membership by 83% in the last three years, and also developed a female-specific coaching programme led by Katie Hoch, who was shortlisted for Development Coach of the Year.

Rosewell Tennis Club in Midlothian, formed in 2021, won the Park Venue of the Year award. The club strives to rejuvenate tennis in a community which previously had no facilities after they took over the lease of two derelict courts in March 2021 and secured funding to upgrade the courts and add floodlights.

The East Lothian Open won the Competition of the Year award, given to a competition with outstanding organisation and delivery. The East Lothian Open organised and hosted a week-long tournament on a voluntary basis which was open to all ages and abilities. The competition also hosted almost 40 different events with 420 participants in addition to hosting the first Open Grade 3 tournament for players with a learning disability in Scotland.

Sarah McFadyen won the Senior Veteran Player of the Year at the annual Tennis Scotland awards.Picture: Peter Devlin

Edinburgh-born Sarah McFadyen, who is currently ranked No 1 in the LTA women’s 40s rankings, was awarded Senior Veteran Player of the Year. McFadyen reached No 12 in the ITF Masters World ranking in August 2022, represented Scotland in the Senior Four Nations, and also represented Great Britain in the 2022 Young Cup at the ITF World Team Championships in Portugal.

Twenty-one-year-old Jacob Fearnley, who trained Craiglockhart Tennis Centre growing up, received the Senior Player of the Year award for his achievements over the past 12 months. Fearnley is currently a student-athlete at Texas-Christian University where he helped the team achieve No 1 in the college rankings, as well as reaching No 1 in ITA National doubles ranking, and No 8 in singles.

Tennis Scotland chief executive Blane Dodds said: “As the Scottish governing body, we are grateful for the individuals and organisations that have played their part in growing and developing tennis across Scotland over the last year.

“With record numbers of members within our club network and record entries at many competitions, there is real momentum in Scottish tennis, and we look forward to further developments in 2023. Best wishes to all our winners who go ahead to the LTA British Awards this year.”

The full list of winners can be viewed here.