Rob Salmon with… Alanya Tennis Club, Turkey
Our regular columnist Rob Salmon, host of the brilliant My Tennis Journey podcast, talks to people from all walks of tennis life. He brings us his unique take on the chats he has with his extraordinary variety of guests, each of whom has a special tennis story to tell.
In his latest instalment, Rob writes us a postcard from holiday telling us about the beautiful memories he’s making with his family out on the courts in Turkey…
Turkish Delight: A Postcard With Love From Alanya Tennis Club
by Rob Salmon
I've never been very good at sending postcards - apologies to my family in that regard - but dear Talking Tennis readers I wanted to send you a tennis postcard from Alanya Tennis Club in Turkey about why a visit to the club has been the highlight of our holiday.
We're currently staying at a resort near Alanya in Turkey. We're having an amazing time. The food. The sun. The water slides. All ace. But there isn't a tennis court at the hotel and my wife and our two boys were keen to play (our daughter is at a tennis camp in the UK but that's a completely different postcard!).
We'd brought our rackets and our gear so I headed to Google Maps and searched for tennis clubs. Our nearest club was called Alanya Tennis Club - a short taxi ride away.
I guess not all tennis clubs are overly welcoming. Members only. But a quick bit of research showed Alanya Tennis Club isn’t one of them.
I headed to their Instagram and one of the first posts I saw said: You're Invited To Our Weekend Tennis Tournament. Every Sunday at 6pm.
On their website I found a WhatsApp link - I asked if our family could enter and they said yes of course.
So we headed down... and what a magical experience it was.
The location was stunning. Two hard and two clay courts right next to the most beautiful beach on which the sun was setting.
The format was doubles with pairs drawn at random (good job this, as my pre tournament hit with a lovely Italian was very sweat inducing!). I was paired with a local guy with a big smile. Our Stanley (12) partnered a Ukranian who had only recently arrived in Turkey as a result of the war and later on in the event a Turkish player. My wife, Beccy, was drawn with our other son Ned (9)
A wide variety of nationalities took to the courts. For the record, my partner and I won 5 out of 6. But that is immaterial.
What I loved was developing a friendship and on court understanding with my partner that led to some memorable matches. By the end of the event I was buzzing.
I loved seeing Stanley starting to understand that tennis can bring different nationalities together - even if they don't speak the same language.
I loved seeing Ned playing with his Mum and making lots of friends with the children at the club.
I loved the fact that Alanya Tennis Club has such a welcoming approach to newcomers. An approach that meant we could immerse ourselves in to the local community, get to know a real mix of people and have the most memorable night of our holiday.
An approach that when combined with the thousands of other welcoming tennis clubs around the world allows tennis to be one of the best ways of meeting people and making friends as we make our way through life's adventures.
Thank you Alanya Tennis Club!
Hope to see you - or another club like you - soon...
Rob x
For more about Alanya Tennis Club visit their website or have a look at their Instagram.
Rob’s podcast My Tennis Journey brings compelling tennis stories to life. If you’d like to say hello to Rob, you’ll find him on Twitter and Instagram.
And you can read our Talking Tennis interview with Rob here.
