Welcome to Eastbourne, the tennis postcard by the sea with an uncertain future

Seagulls swooping onto the courts, players milling about the terraces, a picturesque seaside backdrop: the Eastbourne tennis tournament possesses a unique charm.

The players love it for its informality, its excellent courts and the ease with which they can walk along the seafront from their hotels to the venue. For fans, it’s a cheaper alternative to Wimbledon and Queen’s that still allows them to watch elite tennis in the UK. Eastbourne, a quintessential English seaside town on the south coast, 90 minutes from London by train, acts as a tennis sanctuary before the madness of Wimbledon begins the following week — and has done since the tournament began 50 years ago in 1974.

From next year, as part of a shakeup of the British grass-court season, the women’s event will be downgraded from a WTA 500 event to a 250, the lowest rung on the main tour. The UK grass-court 500-level event will instead be played at Queen’s Club in west London, the week before the existing men’s event at the same venue.

This means that far fewer of the top women’s players will be eligible for Eastbourne, with WTA rules limiting the number of players ranked between No 1 and No 30 who can enter 250-level events. Only a maximum of three players in that bracket are permitted to play 250s when a more prestigious 500 event is happening simultaneously — with top-10 players only eligible if they are the defending champion or a home player. At this year’s Eastbourne event, for sponsorship reasons known as the Rothesay International, three of the world’s top seven entered, though world No 4 Elena Rybakina pulled out. Last year, it was seven of the world’s top 10.

Initially, the decision provoked dismay in Eastbourne. “It is disappointing that not so many top women’s seeds will be at the event from 2025,” said the local MP Caroline Ansell. Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce chief executive Christina Ewbank said the impact on the local economy could be “huge”; the Eastbourne Business Improvement District (BID) said it was “concerned” by the downgrade.

Frustrations have now reduced somewhat. The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have pointed to the women’s event in Birmingham, which became a 250 a few years ago and saw its ticket sales go up by 12 per cent in the years since, and has also moved to placate the BID over visitor numbers. Ewbank still says it is “a shame” but is more confident that the tournament’s historic prestige will offset the downgrade.

She is instead focused on what the change says about the disparity between London and the rest of the UK when it comes to tennis. She described a “two-tier economy where London becomes ever richer and the rest of the country suffers.”

The LTA insists that the event will not be significantly altered. “We remain fully committed to maintaining a combined men’s and women’s tour-level event at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne,” a spokesperson said. “As this month’s WTA event in Nottingham — won by Katie Boulter — has demonstrated, WTA 250 events in Britian deliver strong player fields and draw a lot of media attention. The men’s ATP 250 event at Eastbourne remains unchanged and this year features big names such as Cam Norrie and Taylor Fritz.

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“We’d urge fans not to rush to judge the 2025 event in advance. World class men’s and women’s tennis will still be played at the same iconic venue with the same number of matches and high-quality tennis the event is renowned for. The LTA will be working closely with Eastbourne Borough Council and all local stakeholders to ensure that the tournament remains as popular with players and fans as ever, as well as retaining its unique charm.”

Charm is not money. Trailing last month’s announcement, LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd said in April: “The reality of that location (Eastbourne) is commercially limited to some degree.”

Eastbourne is how many would envisage a typical English seaside resort. As you wander along the seafront, a 19th-century pier dominates the view out; behind you are a number of Victorian hotels. When the weather is good and the sun is dancing on the sea, there is something particularly romantic about the old bandstand and the beach huts on the front. Tennis players like the two-time champion and American No 2 Fritz are out on their morning walk or run with the daytrippers. Harriet Dart, one of the British hopes at the event, likes the fact that you can walk everywhere, rather than having to constantly be in a car.

The Eastbourne beachfront from the pier (Charlie Eccleshare / The Athletic)

Walking along the front and popping into some of the hotels, it’s clear that there is concern about the effect of next year’s downgrade. The Pier Hotel sees an increase in revenue of about 30 per cent during the week compared even to the busiest months of the summer. “The change will definitely affect us,” says the hotel’s manager Shanaz Mansoor. “We don’t know exactly what it will entail yet but we will expect fewer people to come here because it’s less of the big names. We have regular guests coming here to watch players they follow and so, if they’re not in the tournament next year, they won’t come.”

The Pier Hotel, which gets significant business from the tournament (Charlie Eccleshare / The Athletic)

There is similar concern up the road at the Cavendish Hotel. “It will have a big impact,” says the hotel’s sales and conference manager Diana Cinciu. “The event brings a lot of people from lots of different countries — tennis players and their teams stay here as well as fans.”

Turning inland away from the Grand Parade onto Terminus Road, you get to a strip of restaurants. Many of these are very popular with the players: World No 1 Jannik Sinner visited the Trattoria Anema e Core Italian restaurant regularly when he played in 2022 and Jasmine Paolini, the French Open runner-up, has been among its patrons this year.

According to its owner Giuseppe, the restaurant sees an uptick in revenues of about 20 per cent each year during the week of the tournament. At the neighbouring Rostick Italian and seafood restaurant, there’s an even bigger increase — double what they get in a normal week. “It’s our busiest week of the year and I think it (the changes) will affect us a little bit because of the amount of people that come to the city for the tennis,” says the owner Luis Costa. “They like to see the big names.”

Trattoria Anema e Core, a favourite of players (Charlie Eccleshare / The Athletic)

A few streets away, the owner of the Pomodoro e Mozzarella restaurant Luca Albertoni is less concerned. His restaurant sees increased revenues of around 10 to 15 per cent during the tennis, a week in which it hosts the annual party for the players and their teams. On Monday, he was expecting around 140 that evening, and the restaurant is popular throughout the year as well as being packed during tournament week. Former Wimbledon champions Andy Murray, Petra Kvitova and Rybakina are among those to have eaten here during the last decade or so. Albertoni says he’s not worried about the downgrade in terms of visitors to Eastbourne and his restaurant, but he does think the event is important for showcasing the town, pointing to the BBC television coverage. The current BBC deal for the UK grass-court season expires at the end of 2024.

Arriving at the Devonshire Park Tennis centre, with its plentiful practice courts and adjacent theatre, there is a different feel to many tennis events. Spectators are very engaged and are here principally for the sport. That may sound obvious but plenty of tournaments — especially bigger ones — can be marked by empty seats and a degree of indifference to what is actually happening on the court.

“There’s a really nice atmosphere and you can really see that people here have a massive tennis culture,” says Polish player Magda Linette, the 2023 Australian Open semifinalist now ranked world No 46, who plays Eastbourne every year. “They just come to watch tennis, not to watch certain individuals as sometimes happens at tournaments. Even during qualifiers, our stands were basically full and that’s amazing to see.”

Eastbourne draws a diehard tennis crowd (Charlie Eccleshare / The Athletic)

Will these hardy tennis fans really be that bothered if the field isn’t quite as strong next year? The responses are a mixed bag. “It would make a difference, we wouldn’t come,” says Andrew, 57, who has come as he does each year with his friend Lee, 59, from Epsom in Surrey. “Queen’s is expensive (by comparison) and you get the chance to see good players when you’re here. That’s its appeal. I think the changes will be negative because I imagine tickets at Queen’s will be expensive and difficult to get.”

Ticket prices haven’t been confirmed for next year’s events at Queen’s, but this year tickets for Centre Court started at £55, compared to £48 at Eastbourne.

Other fans are divided about whether the downgrade will make much of a difference to attendance. Ally, in her fifties, from Henley, and here with a friend the same age, says: “I suppose it would matter because here we can see big names in a smaller venue. It’s fans who understand the game and it’s not expensive.”

“I don’t think it’ll really change much,” counters Fiona Screen, 56, who is a regular visitor to the tournament from London. “I would look at who was playing but there’ll still be enough good players.

“It’s because of the tennis I come down, not just a day out and a glass of Pimm’s.”

Britain’s Emma Raducanu beat Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne on June 26 (Charlie Crowhurst / Getty Images for LTA)

Other locals fear that Eastbourne itself will be diminished. “I think it’s a tragedy,” says local resident Sue Lear, 70. “You can see how many people are here, it’s such a lovely venue. I’ve been to Queen’s and I much prefer this. A lot more open and friendly. You can almost interact with the players at times.”

Alex, 49, adds: “Nationally, it puts Eastbourne on the map.”

Some of the names cited as players they enjoy watching — Emma Raducanu, Sloane Stephens and Katie Boulter — are all ranked outside the world’s top 30, and so would be eligible next year anyway. The change will likely mean more entries from British players, who are always good at attracting fans from across the country.

On Monday, supporters spoke of enjoying getting to watch Dart (world ranking No 105) beating Czech Marie Bouzkova (world ranking No 37). Even with its 500 status, Eastbourne has tended to be a tournament with lots of upsets, and its slot just before Wimbledon inevitably means some top players — like Rybakina this year — withdraw to save themselves for the All England Club. Six of the winners of the last 11 editions have been ranked outside of the world’s top 30, with an average ranking of 27.5.

The LTA cites this drop-off as part of its rationale for downgrading the event. It believes that having the 500-level event at Queen’s two weeks earlier than Eastbourne, and just after the French Open, will make for a stronger field, as any tournament the week before Wimbledon like Eastbourne will always suffer from withdrawals. 

Despite the temptation to skip it, the WTA players love the event. The grass is excellent, the practice courts are plentiful, and it’s about an hour and a half from London, so they know that even if they go deep, Wimbledon is just a short hop away. Next year, they’ll have to go to the Bad Homburg 500 event in Germany, which was upgraded from 250-level this year; that decision contributed to the difficulty of finding a slot for a 500-level grass event in the UK and ultimately its moving away from the south coast. 

Players like the 2021 champion and world No 13 Jelena Ostapenko say they’d prefer if Eastbourne remained a 500-level event. Bad Homburg is less appealing to most players, in large part because of its geography. Even with more ranking points and prize money at stake for a trip to Germany from next year, calendar convenience is more important for top players; playing at Eastbourne means arriving in the UK before Wimbledon and not having to leave.

Reigning Eastbourne champion and world No 12 Madison Keys jokes that she’ll just have to keep winning the tournament to ensure she remains eligible for the event. She believes the tournament will be just as in demand — though she accepts that the WTA rules mean that for the highest-ranked ones it won’t be up to them if they can come or not.

Keys after winning the title in 2023 (Tom Dulat / Getty Images for LTA)

Keys adds: “I think I’ve always really loved this tournament because it’s a big tournament with big names but it’s in a small city and you can walk around everywhere. It’s always nice coming off the craziness of lots of big cities in a row to, all of a sudden, it’s totally different. You can decompress and walk around. Everything’s a bit easier, it’s always a really nice change of pace.” Male players like Fritz and Britain’s No 2 Norrie expressed similar sentiments.

Players like world No 14 Daria Kasatkina have previously criticised the WTA’s limits on top players entering 250 events, saying it weakens them. The WTA said last year, when it introduced the change, that 250s “will have a stronger regional focus to create a more sustainable and viable business model that will help foster the next generation of stars”.

In Britain, the LTA points to its grass-court events in Birmingham (with a men’s event taking over from Surbiton, a south-west London suburb, from 2025), Nottingham, Ilkley (Yorkshire) and Eastbourne as evidence of its geographical spread.

Only the next few years will reveal what difference the downgrading will make to attendance and revenues. Speaking to local people, it felt like some of the initial frustrations were about something wider. The idea of not really mattering if you’re not in London. In tennis terms, going to events like Eastbourne is to be reminded of the importance of a diverse tour where not all tournaments take place in big cities or purpose-built new venues.

Walking along the seafront before turning off to the station to head home, the overriding feeling was hope: that unique events like these can continue to thrive.

(Top photos: Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton)