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This week on the show we take a look at how the Southampton LTA's Winter Mixed Doubles leagues are stacking up as players get ready to restart all the action after the Christmas & New Year break.

Rob Ernsberger, captain of Twyford Mixed, joins us to talk about life in Division Two for the team that has secured back-to-back-to-back promotions.

But first, Rob & Dave competed in their first ever match with LTA Umpires. We talk about what that was like, and our main takeaways from that experience. Learn from our do’s and don’ts, hopefully BEFORE you get on court with an umpire!

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This week we welcome to the show Mat Johnstone, Hampshire tennis native and the UK’s Number One PST3 Para-Standing Tennis player.

Mat shares his journey from an up-and-coming tennis junior at Warsash to top Para-Standing Tennis player with an eye on the World Top Ten rankings for 2026. Mat shares his early experiences in tennis, the life-changing impact of meningitis at 17, and his subsequent rehabilitation.

We talk with Mat about his transition from wheelchair tennis to para-standing tennis, the challenges he faced, and his aspirations for the future. Mat’s life story highlights the importance of resilience, adaptability, and a lot of what's great about the Hampshire tennis community.

Mat also describes the nuances of walking and parastanding tennis, including the similarities and differences in rules and performance. We also talk a bit of Sabalenka and Kyrgios!

Mat is on Instagram, where you can find him using the handle @matjohnstone23.

You can find out more about Mat, including how to sponsor his pursuit of global top ten, here:

https://sponsorseeker.co.uk/listing/mat-johnstone-para-standing-tennis/

You can follow the global Para Standing Tennis sport here:

https://www.parastandingtennis.com

The LTA’s initiatives in Para Standing Tennis is described here:

https://www.lta.org.uk/play/inclusion-disability/para-standing-tennis/

And you can send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

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Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast

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Welcome to the show Richard Cutler, Charity Director and Councillor at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Tennis, the county authority for tennis that brings rhyme and reason to the way tennis functions across the county. Have we had a better opportunity so far to better understand how tennis works in Hampshire than this interview? I don’t think so!

Richard was well prepared for this one - lots of engaging discussion and plenty of facts and figures. Ever wondered how many tennis players there are in Hampshire? How Hampshire stacks up nationally? How the county is doing on its RAG deliverables, and which district LTA is the best of them all? Richard has answers for all those questions, and shares his views on all of them except the last one… he has relationships to maintain of course!

We also explore Richard’s work with the LTA at the national level - the mothership on which Richard has been a board member for the past few years. In fact he’s alongside LTA President Sandi Proctor in the cover art for this episode. Both Richard and Sandi are completing their time with the LTA Board at the end of 2025.

Towards the end of the show we get into some Padel-chat (that starts at around 47 minutes) and Richard’s ambitions for Totton & Eling Tennis Center, where is is the Managing Director (that starts at around 62 minutes).

You can find Hampshire & IOW Tennis at: https://hampshireiow.tennis and on Instagram at @hampshireiowtennis. Keep an eye out for their Showcase event and awards ceremony, due to be held on April 18, 2026.

Send us your thoughts for the show:

hello@thpod.uk

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