The Duchess of Cambridge has reportedly been taking private tennis lessons at a club in London, and it’s a family affair according to People.
Kate has been spotted working on improving her tennis technique with the help of a private coach at Hurlingham Club.
“It wasn’t hard-going tennis – they weren’t rushing around,” a source told the magazine
Both William and Kate have been taking lessons while Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis play at the playground near the court.
“They are obviously choosing to improve their tennis. She hits the ball with a nice topspin. She is a good minor athlete.”
A club member, speaking to the Mail on Sunday, said that Kate is a good player who trains “with her tennis coach with her security looming in the background. Sometimes they fetch her stray balls.”
The Cambridges have been members of the Hurlingham Club in Feltham for a while now. Back in the summer, a source told Hello! that Kate was often spotted with the children.
“There’s a gorgeous playground they all love, and George and Charlotte have tennis lessons. They all pile into the clubhouse afterwards for lunch or tea and they’re never bothered, they’re just like any normal family. They all seem to really love it here.”
Tennis has been a big family sport for the Cambridges. Kate and the Middleton family are life-long fans. They’re also chummy with tennis legend Roger Federer—who revealed that he’s even played with Prince George.
In a Wimbledon press conference this past summer, Federer said, “I think I have a little advantage that I actually spent some time with him. So maybe I’m the only player he’s ever met.”
Kate was regularly spotted at Wimbledon before and after her marriage, and in 2017 took over as patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club from The Queen. She attends the men’s and ladies final every year and in 2019 presented a trophy for the first time, to Novak Djokovic.
In an interview with the BBC in 2017 at the start of Wimbledon, the Duchess spoke of her love of tennis, saying, “It really inspires youngsters, myself, it inspired me, when I was younger, to get involved in the game.
“It hasn’t changed either, I think that’s what’s so wonderful. You know everyone’s still there in their whites, Wimbledon still looks as amazing as it did as I remember it as a youngster, you’ve got the strawberries and cream. And, you know, every time Wimbledon is on I’m there thinking, ‘Yes, I can do, I can do the same’. Get that racket. Sadly never, never the same results.”
She also called Wimbledon a “quintessential part of the English summer” and remembered being awed by Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Goran Ivanisevic, and Steffi Graf. She said that Andy Murray’s 2013 win was hugely emotional.
She has also, through her patronages, visited young people at tennis training courses, both with Andy Murray’s mother and through the Royal Foundation’s Coach Core.
In 2018, William told Novak Djokovic that he and Kate were working on Prince George and Princess Charlotte to “get a tennis racket in their hand — and a football!”
The Cambridges also have a tennis court at their home in Anmer Hall where they’re said to be very competitive when playing against each other.
