The Liverpool International Tennis Tournament (LITT) is more than Europe’s largest and longest-running tennis exhibition. It’s where future champions fine-tune their game before Wimbledon.
For over two decades, this prestigious event has brought rising stars and seasoned pros to Liverpool, giving fans the chance to see top-tier tennis up close. But what makes LITT so special?
Tournament founder and director Anders Borg shares everything you need to know ahead of LITT 2025.
What is the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament?
The Liverpool International Tennis Tournament is an exhibition event. It’s a warm-up event to Wimbledon, offering WTA and ATP players the opportunity to play on a quality grass court and practice for the big one in SW13.
How does the event benefit players?
The grass court season is short. For players to play another tournament prior to Wimbledon is risky because if they lose in the first round, they only have one match under their belt. We offer them a minimum of three singles matches across three event days.
For many players, it’s a valuable practice time to get used to the grass courts after the clay court season. The French Open ends in the middle of June, so there are only three weeks for the players to adjust to grass, and it is a big difference, surface-wise.
So players enjoy coming to Liverpool to get matches under their belt. During major tournaments, players are on their own, so to speak. They don’t socialise much and certainly don’t go out for big dinners like we create for them in Liverpool.
LITT is like a few days off with the opportunity to get grass court practice.
How do you recruit players for the tournament?
Typically, as long as players reach Wimbledon qualification, they have the standards we’re looking for. We always look for up-and-coming players because the more established players are more difficult to attract.
Our prime targets are young players who have done well in junior Wimbledon the previous year. Over the years, we’ve had a fantastic history of choosing top youngsters, like Novak Djokovic, who played our event when he was 16 and 17, as did Caroline Wozniacki. Both of them went on to become champions. Novak became the goat of all goats, while Caroline Wozniacki won slams and was ranked number one in the world. That’s the sort of profile we’re looking for.
We also had Emma Raducanu when she was 12. She won her first event in Liverpool and later went on to win the US Open.
How does The Liverpool International Tennis Tournament promote local talent?
We run six International Junior events throughout the tennis season: two Tennis Europe under-14s and International Tennis Federation under-18 events. These events are for up-and-coming, ambitious younger players who want to become professionals or have a goal of playing college tennis. Some use our events to qualify for good universities in America and have their education paid for whilst getting a great education.
All the best players in the world have gone through this circuit. Liverpool’s six events throughout the year have made the city the UK’s major hub of international junior tennis, which we are very proud of. Also, the event organisers can give out wild cards to international tournaments, so it’s great for local talent.
Where is the tournament held?
The venue is the Liverpool Cricket Club, which is an amazing sporting club. It’s one of the oldest sporting grounds in the UK, from 1807.
Obviously, it started as a cricket club, but they’ve added on tennis, bowls, squash, and rugby. They’ve also introduced padel courts, which have become very popular.
It’s a fantastic venue on Aigburth Road, just 10 minutes from The Liverpool Tennis Centre. It has a tremendous history, so we’re proud to be there. The grass court is unbelievable. The groundsman there, Terry Glover, creates a centre court that is as good as any at Wimbledon.
What attracts so many local businesses to attend the event?
LITT has become a well-recognised corporate event because tennis is a great day out, with a superb corporate hospitality offering.
You can sit down, enjoy a meal and watch top-class tennis in the sunshine (hopefully).
You’re situated close to the court at ground level, which gives you a fantastic feel for how fast and furious grass court tennis can be.
We also have partner packages that invite businesses to get involved in our community work and junior events. So it’s not only a three-day partnership, it includes six weeks of junior tennis and our city centre promotions. We offer exposure on our platforms and websites and what I believe is a fantastic community that CSR programme.
All in all, the tournament is a terrific opportunity to promote your business and network in style.
Do you invite the public to attend?
The general public is an essential aspect of our event. The advantage of tennis is it appeals to lots of people, from kids who love the sport to those who want to enjoy watching professional athletes up close.
Whereas you go to a football match and see 90 minutes of action, tennis is a full day out that always puts a smile on your face. It’s a great day out when the sun is beaming down over the centre court at Liverpool Cricket Club.
We encourage everyone who attends to pick up a racquet and go and have a hit to help them stay fit.
How does Liverpool Tennis give back to the community?
We want to encourage as many kids as possible to try tennis. Football is the major sport in the region, but we believe all kids should have two sports to focus on until at least the age of 14. Whether tennis is Number one or two doesn’t really matter.
We have promotional sessions in the city centre prior to the tournament, where we give kids the chance to practice with a coach, which has proven very popular over the years. We have a Kids Day Only, where our partner KPMG invites 500 kids from local schools to play tennis while they learn about letters and numbers.
How long has the Liverpool International Tournament been around for?
We established the tournament in 2002, and this is our 23rd edition. No other exhibition event has lasted that long. It’s become an important part of my life and, hopefully, an important part of the North West’s sporting calendar.
