• By Sam Parton on Mar 31, 2016

Best Tennis Courts in Wandsworth

Wandsworth is renowned for being fairly leafy and it will come as no surprise that the borough is inundated with tennis courts across various sites such as parks, schools and private tennis clubs. The confusing aspect is there is a miss-mash of different operators and working how to book each facility can be confusing. We have therefore tried to make it much easier and produced the definitive guide to playing tennis in Wandsworth.

Wandsworth Common Tennis and Bowls

This is the All Star Tennis flagship site having operated on the six hard tennis courts for over 10 years. An enormous range of different sessions and classes are available such as adult social sessions, cardio tennis to junior' holiday camps. There are also a number of excellent coaches offering individual and group tuition. 

Furzedown Recreation Ground Park

There are two tennis courts available at Furzedown Recreation Ground Park which is also run by All Star Tennis on behalf of Wandsworth Coucil. Furzedown Recreation Ground is confusing as there are essentially two sports facilities, run completely separately. The park area is run by All Star Coaching and offers two tennis courts which can booked via AllStar Tennis.

Wandsworth Park

Wandsworth Park provides a fairly picturesque, tree-lined setting lying adjacent to the River Thames. There is one, standalone tennis court which is operated by All Star Tennis and it is extremely popular so you will need to book early as it can often be booked out several days in advance. There is an adjacent bowling green and changing rooms too and the nearest tube station is East Putney. 

King George's Park

King George's Park is actually one of the largest tennis sites in Wandsworth with 10 hard courts available to the public. It is also operated by All Star Tennis and offers an excellent coaching programme for children and adults. King George's Park tennis booking can be carried out via the booking calendar below: Leader's Gardens Leader's Gardens is located in between Putney and Barnes and lies adjacent to the River Thames. It is yet another tennis venue in the All Star Tennis arsenal and offers three hard tennis courts to both to the public. Like the other All Star Tennis venues in Wandsworth, prices for non-members start from £7.70 per hour and there are social and coaching sessions which anyone can get involved in.

Tooting Bec Common

Tooting Bec common is another All Star Tennis venue and offers six hard tennis courts to advantage card holders and non-card holders. There is an excellent coaching programmer which offers sessions for adults and children, including holiday camps and drop in sessions. The tennis hut also offers a range of equipment and refreshments. There is a car park on Dr Johnson drive which is only a couple of minutes' walk from the Tooting Bec tennis courts. Availability and booking can be carried out using the calendar below. 

Barn Elms Sports Trust

Barn Elms is confusing as there are actually two separate venues lying adjacent to each other and both offer tennis courts as well as a range of other sports facilities. Barn Elms sports trust has three dedicated tennis courts and three multi use games areas, the latter of which are predominately used as tennis courts.

Barn Elms Sports Centre

To add to confusion, Barn Elms Sports Centre is next door to Barn Elms Sports Trust and offers tennis courts, cricket nets, beach volleyball as well as plethora of different sports pitches for rugby, cricket and 11 a side football. Previously there were approximately 20 tennis courts however their number has been greatly reduced as they have made way for beach volleyball. However there are still around 10 synthetic and hard tennis courts available for hire. For further information you can see the Barn Elms Sports Centre below:

Battersea Park

Battersea Park is the largest tennis venue in the whole of Wandsworth and is currently operated by Wandsworth Borough Council. It offers 19 tennis courts which can be booked in advance by its members via the phone. There is also a range of coaching programmes taking place on the courts with sessions on offer on a pay and play basis such as cardio tennis, adult coaching and junior coaching. There are also holiday camps available. For Battersea Park tennis court booking.

Fred Wells Gardens

There is a solitary court at Fred Wells gardens in Battersea which has been somewhat neglected by Wandsworth. As a result its condition has little to be desired and it also suffers from a lack of space, particularly for doubles tennis as the perimeter of the court is narrow, particularly at the back. However to our knowledge it is completely free to use so perhaps worth checking out if you want a game of singles and do not mind negotiating glass, dog faeces and other miscellaneous obstacles.

Furzedown Recreation Ground

To add to the confusion Furzedown Recreation Ground is managed by Wandsworth Council when it is not being used by schools during the day. It offers two synthetic 3g football pitches which are ideal for 6 a side football and cricket nets. It also offers three synthetic tennis courts which are all floodlit.Two of the courts can be used for singles only as space is fairly limited and there are no tramlines. However one of the courts can be used for doubles tennis. Costs are around £7/hour and availability is high, they are seldom booked in advance. It's worth noting that tennis is usually only available during the summer months.

Wandsworth School Sports Facilities

Emmanuel School

Emmanuel School is located next to Wandsworth Common and relatively close to Clapham Junction. It has a range of school sports facilities including tennis and offers camps during the school holidays. It is located up a long drive which is fairly camouflaged to the public eye. For further information about the Emmanuel School sports facilities contact Emmanuel School.

Burntwood School

Burntwood School is located towards the Tooting side of Wandsworth relatively close to Spencer Park and Ernest Beving. There is a sports hall and outside multi-use games areas which include tennis courts. To our knowledge there are three tennis courts at Burntwood School and they should be available for community use.

Ernest Bevin

Ernest Bevin is a school in Tooting with state of the art sports facilities including a sports hall, gym, multi-use games areas and a 25m indoor swimming pool. The facilities on offer are used extensively by the local community and school but there are various sports activities which the public can look out for.

Wandsworth Tennis Clubs

Magdalen Lawn Tennis Club

Magdalen Lawn Tennis Club is located between Earlsfield and Wandsworth Common not too far from the glorious Wandsworth Prison. The popular Wandsworth tennis club offers a refurbished clubhouse and viewing balcony which overlook eight pristine tennis courts of which four are Plexipave acryllic, two artificial clay and two are hard tennis courts. Membership prices are reasonable and for further details email mpltenquiries@mpltc.org.uk.

Spencer Park

Spencer Park is a Wandsworth sports club that currently offers cricket, tennis, squash, hockey and lacrosse to its members. Membership is open to anyone and they offers some fantastic sports facilities including four tennis courts, indoor and outdoor cricket nets, a synthetic pitch for hockey, football and lacrosse as well as squash courts. They have built up a friendly and vibrant membership base. For further information email info@spencerclub.org.