ILKLEY Lawn Tennis and Squash Club have received top-level backing for their inaugural Aegon Ilkley Trophy event.

Lawn Tennis Association president Cathie Sabin and former Wimbledon doubles champion Peter McNamara are among those to have given the 42,500 euros ATP Challenger and the $50,000 ITF Women’s Pro Circuit Tournament the thumbs up this week.

Sabin, who knows the Stourton Road club as it has been a Ladies’ County Week venue when Shropshire have been playing, said: “I am very impressed.

“The Aegon Ilkley Trophy is now well underway and it’s great to see spectators and players alike enjoying the opportunity to watch and play tennis against this fantastic Yorkshire backdrop.

“We knew that Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club had the facilities to host an event of this standard, but the hard-working team here have more than realised their ambitions for the tournament, attracting a world-class calibre of players, which is a great achievement.

“British tennis is driven by volunteers, and the club committee at Ilkley have rallied a very friendly troop of helpers to make everyone feel welcome.

“I know the players are extremely excited to have the opportunity to play in a new grass-court tournament – and who knows, they may inspire a future Yorkshire grand slam champion to give the sport a try?”

Sabin added: “The Aegon Ilkley Trophy outreach programme that the club’s head coach Simon Ickringill has led is also fantastic.

“Over 1,500 children have taken part in the Yorkshire LTA-sponsored initiative and the great thing is that the children, having been coached, then have the chance to watch these top players for free and hopefully be inspired.”

Former world No 7 McNamara, who won three Grand Slam doubles titles with Paul McNamee (Wimbledon 1980 and 1982 and the Australian Open in 1979), and who played at the Ilkley tournament for several years in the 1980s and fell in love with the place, said: “It’s fantastic to see up- and-coming talent get valuable grass-court experience – especially at an event like this where the quality of players is extremely high.

“I know what it feels like to lift the Wimbledon trophy, and every player here will have that ambition, and these are exactly the types of events which will help give them the much-needed practice and confidence to fulfil that dream.

“I send a big well done to the Aegon Ilkley team and the LTA for delivering a new Challenger event – one which I hope will remain a part of the grass-court season going forward.”

Ilkley have made a big effort in terms of the quality of their grass courts, the courtside furniture and attracting spectators.

Seats for the stands are sold out for both the men’s singles final on Saturday and the women’s singles final on Sunday but ground tickets are available for all of the remaining days, with play starting at 11am daily.