British Tennis Forum

Just wanted to write a few words to commemorate the fact that in just over a month's time, this forum will be 20 years old (June 15 to be exact). I created it as a teenager at a time when YouTube was barely a few months old, Facebook wasn't yet known outside of the US, and the likes of Twitter, Instagram and TikTok weren't even a glint in the imagination. And I'm both delighted and thrilled that two decades later, it not only survives but thrives (an average of 15,300 views per day and consistently 1-2 million every month).

So how did it all begin?

Back in June 2005, the list of top British men was still topped by a 30 year old Tiger Tim (ranked No.9 in the world, but on the wane), a 31 year old Greg Rusedski at no.39, and then you had to go all the way down to a 21 year old Alex Bogdanovic at No.184. There were 9 players in the top 300, and 15 in the top 500, although there was some buzz about an 18 year old called Andy Murray who'd made a bit of a stir in a Davis Cup tie that March and was about to announce himself at Queens and Wimbledon.

Things were even bleaker on the women's side, where our hopes were spearheaded by Elena Baltacha at No.120, and then Amanda Janes at No.222. Jane O'Donoghue, Anne Keothavong and Emily Webley-Smith made up the only other players in the top 300.

Back then, being a British tennis fan was largely akin to being an England cricket supporter in the 90s. It was hope and optimism which united us all, and as a keen player, I was fascinated by the sport, not just Tim & Greg but Andy's emerging progress and life at the lower levels - the wildcards we saw once a year at Wimbledon. In those pre-social media days, forums were the only place you could go to keep track of it all - and there were a smattering of options: British Tennis Zone, the Rusedski.co.uk forum, the tennis section of BBC 5 Live message board and GB Tennis Girls. Over time, each slowly disappeared, and most of the regulars migrated here.

Simply keeping track of results required significant detective skills. Below the main tour, live streams were virtually non-existent (apart from the occasional, regularly buffering option for a European challenger or Swedish futures event), and for any UK or US tournament, live scoring or even any vague online information about the tournament was pretty much non-existent. The only ways of getting results were the ITF website, stevegtennis, along with very gratefully appreciated updates from forum members who attended events, and posted match reports on here (in the early days, I remember some forumites texting me scores from UK challengers and futures which I then relayed). But it all vaguely added to the fun!

How we follow the sport has changed beyond recognition in the past 2 decades, as has, I'm delighted to say - GB's success at it. Back in June 2005, I could never imagined that we'd actually win the Davis Cup, Andy would reach no.1, win 3 slams and 2 Olympic golds, we'd have a top 4 women's player (Jo Konta), and a Grand Slam champion (Emma). In the early days, it was a landmark moment if someone won a challenger or simply qualified for a slam. 

It's been a privilege being able to follow the vagaries and ups and downs of it all on here. My own posting has peaked and troughed over the years, as life has happened but it's been an absolute delight to see the forum go from strength to strength, and I'm so grateful to all the regulars who keep it going!

I think over the years, pretty much most of the top players and families have used this website to keep track of the results - a few have even joined as members. We've had Dan Evans, Marcus Willis, Kyle and Cam's dad's, Andy Fitzpatrick and quite a lot of others whose names I forget. Most of the regular British tennis journalists have monitored the board - in the early days, a few of them even got a few scoops on here. 

I should also take this moment to note some of past members, who gave a huge amount to this community, who have now sadly passed on. In particular I'm thinking of Madeline, who was a moderator for many years and did so much to keep things going, but many other former regulars who have likely moved on somewhat permanently.

And so...now to the next 20 years. I must apologise for not keeping on top of various aspects of forum maintenance - I began this forum on my dad's laptop, lost the password to the admin panel and I've recently had to return home and log into his old email account to retrieve it. 

But now that's restored, I'm going to try and sort the issue of no new members being able to join, and if necessary, get in touch with the Activeboard maintenance team. 

I'd also love to know everyone's thoughts on the forum going forwards - I'm aware that Activeboard is somewhat old technology - should we at some point consider creating a new home, or staying here?