SOARING temperatures combined with Wimbledon fever is serving up a Notts tennis boom.
Coaches say more people are taking to Notts' courts, inspired by Andy Murray's performance at the championships, including last night's thrilling win against Jerzy Janowicz, which saw him through to the final.
And with thermometers due to touch 26 degrees centigrade under sunny skies over the next five days, the sport is expecting its annual boom to be better than ever.
Jean Blake a coach at The Park Tennis Club, in Tattershall Drive, Nottingham, said it was a "fantastic" period for the sport in Notts. "It has been busy for us as a club," she said. "We have a lot of people wanting to start playing or start back again after many years.
"We always see a rise in interest at this time of year, and the good weather helps, but we are noticeably busy this year, and one of the major things is having a good British player.
"It's then about getting people to stay on long term and go on improving."
The Post reported yesterday that Notts could be about to bask in its longest period of July sunshine in seven years, according to forecasters.
The Met Office is predicting clear skies until at least Monday, with temperatures going up to 26 degrees Celsius.
Peter Whitehead, tennis manager at Nottingham Tennis Centre, says the University Boulevard facility did not always notice the Wimbledon buzz because it plans extra events in summer anyway – but he hoped warm weather would help the sport.
He said: "That extra uptake does happen about this time for a couple of weeks – and you have places like the park in Valley Road, in Sherwood, where the courts are free to use; those places are going to see quite an uptake.
"Wimbledon is there year in year out and it shouldn't be difficult to get people to stick with tennis – you hope people will give it a go and then want to take it further."
Tennis in the county has also been given a boost this year by Notts County Council's £1.7m Sports Legacy Fund.
It included £31,800 for Collingham Lawn Tennis Club and £25,000 to also improve facilities at Woodthorpe Tennis Club.
But not everyone thinks tennis has the brightest possible future.
One Notts tennis club member, who did not want to be named, said: "There are things like the Tennis Centre here which you can just go an play at, but the younger people do not seem to go to clubs. Tennis is still quite elitist in my view and not as accessible as some other sports that take people's interest."
