Tennis Holidays in Italy

Listen to the gentle thwack-thwack of tennis balls, punctuated only by melodic birdsong. Up your game — or just sit back and enjoy. We have chosen our Love Italy specialists for their on-court professionalism and their off-court fun.

Tennis with views, set in beautiful scenery, basking in sunshine for most of the year with gourmet delights at every turn — advantage Italy! Clubs and courts are now popping up in every little town and city as the nationwide passion for the game spirals. It’s reflected, too, in the roll call of the world’s top 100 players with four Italian men and five ladies up there in the frame.

Tennis breaks are becoming more and more popular as a holiday in Italy. Families, Wimbledon wannabes, young and old alike, there’s something for everyone. While the energetic and highly motivated are put through their paces with coaching sessions, others are content with a few thwacks around court to make them feel virtuous and have a bit of active fun. Others purely want to explore and luxuriate.  But everyone revels in the break, lapping up the glorious scenery and indulging in foodie passions. Break point!

Keeping your eye on the ball can be a serious challenge around cypress-fringed hilltowns and vineyards bathed in golden light, and these fabled Tuscan landscapes are the scene for many tennis retreats. The ‘Matchball’ club has 16 clay and hard courts, offering everything from intensive weeks for aspiring tennis giants to beginners and improvers’ courses. And, with Florence and the bejewelled Ponte Vecchio only nine kilometres away, it would be sacrilege not to pay your respects to the city that is the birthplace of the Renaissance. And maybe even learn a few tricks from the poise of Michelangelo’s David as he prepared to do battle with his giant.

Lovely Lucca lies almost within lobbing distance of another of our favourite Tennis Clubs. For some gentle après exercise, take a stroll along the Passeggiata della Mura — the magnificent tree-shaded walk above the 16^th century ramparts, then delve inside the walls and be entranced by Roman remains alongside art-nouveau façades, tantalising shops and gourmet eateries round every medieval street corner.

To cool off, Lucca is only 25 minutes away from the beach and, even closer, are snow-capped mountains — or so they appear. The white marble quarries of Fantiscritti were the location of the marble slab selected by Michelangelo for his David. More recently it was a location used in the Bond film ‘Quantum of Solace’. For chisel-jawed grit, this is the place for inspiration when next on court striving for that perfect backhand.

Elsewhere in Southern Tuscany on the promontory of Argentario, hotel resorts and spas offer tennis courts, surrounded by forests of cork oaks and olive groves. Distractions here are likely to be in the form of deer, hares and squirrels and the perfume of a profusion of flowers.

On the southern tip of the island of Sardinia, the Forte Village offers lessons, clinics and tournaments on 12 courts, supplemented by resident former touring pros. Here the beaches are Italy’s answer to the Caribbean, just as they are in the northern Costa Smeralda. The Hotel De Luni at Puntaldia offers dedicated tennis breaks and is close to famous Porto Cervo — beloved of the paparazzi and glitterati. The beaches around are caster-sugar white, lapped by swimming pool-blue seas.

Sicily is a fascinating melting-pot and cradle of civilisations, nowadays with several very civilised tennis resorts. On the west coast, Trapani is less than an hour’s drive from the capital, Palermo, and has a good clay court club where you’re guaranteed to share shots with mainly local players. Love-all! Off court, there’s a wealth of riches to explore, from savouring sunset views from the hilltop town Erice to the dazzlingly white saltpans and windmills near the ancient Phoenician site of Mozia, or to drinking in the wine at Marsala that has made the town world-famous.

In the south east, Siracusa has a great club and organises hosted weeks with resident Italian coaches. A mere volley away lie an extraordinary number of well-preserved Greek and Roman remains, including the Teatro Greco, one of the great theatres of classical times and which stages open-air performances in May and June. Alongside is the vast grotto, the ‘Ear of Dionysius’ with cathedral-like acoustics. You may well be all ears — but don’t let that put you off your stroke.

Whether mainland or island, Italy is the perfect destination for a holiday with tennis. Practise those strokes as long, hard or soft as you please — but leave plenty of time for savouring this extraordinary country. Drink in the magical views, the glorious food and wine and warm welcome that make it uniquely the land of the dolce vita.