Send us Fan Mail

Summer is here. At last!

We know because the Apsley tennis season is now underway. A well-endowed Division Four has already started playing its fixtures. With a ponderous ten teams - including three new entrants and two teams relegated from last summer’s Division Three,

Div Four is shaping up as Hampshire tennis’ Group of Death. As Dave’s natural hunting ground, it looks like there are a few tough shifts ahead.

Meanwhile, we preview all the action from the Premier Division onwards.

Beyond Apsley, Dave took on “Pistol” Pete Guerreri in the Hampshire & Isle of Wight singles league, and much discussion on how to handle rampant foot faulting ensures from there. Hear more from Guerreri from Episode 2.20, where he joined us to discuss tennis mercenaries.

We’re now on YouTube: Find future and archive show clips on YouTure using the handle @tennishampshirepodcast

Send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

We close our winter coverage with a courtside interview with Michael Isaacs, the chair of the Portsmouth & District LTA.

Michael has led a rejuvenation of inter-club tennis in the Portsmouth area for more than 15 years, helping re-establisb a league that is now fully competitive with every district in Hampshire.

We talk about Michael’s journey to become chair, why it is that league leaders are so busy, and what exactly it means to support “normal tennis players”.

Michale also shares some of the origins of the Solent Cup, and hints at what might be done to spark more membership at clubs among under-40s.

We’re now on YouTube: Find future and archive show clips on YouTure using the handle @tennishampshirepodcast

Send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

The battle for the 2026 Solent Cup left honours split between Southampton and Portsmouth. Gate-crashers Riverside and winter-warriors Warsash took home the top winter prize in south coast inter-club tennis.

Dave Ernsberger & Robin Ellison were on site for six hours of top class tennis. Even furious wind and a biting chill couldn’t stop some top tennis being played.

In this episode we review the day itself, with a closer look at the teams that showed up and a deeper dive into how the spoils were shared.

We hear from the captains of mens champions Riverside at the end of the show.

Also in this episode - closing the books on the Southampton LTA’s winter season. 13 clubs took divisional titles this winter, after virtually all of the fixture backlog managed to clear over three frantic weeks of tennis. Just one division left fixtures unplayed - Mens Division Five.

And resolving once and for all exactly how far away Salisbury is from Thornden Tennis Club.

We’re now on YouTube: Find future and archive show clips on YouTure using the handle @tennishampshirepodcast

Send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

Winter is SO over! That leaves us with just one question to be answered for the season: are the very best teams on the South Coast from the Southampton LTA or the Portsmouth & District LTA?

Dave Ernsberger & Robin Ellison preview Winchester v Warsash and Court X v Salisbury, as the titans of Hampshire winter tennis get ready to meet at Thornden on April 11th.

We also discuss our plans to cover the event live from Thornden, and we hope to see you there!

We’re now on YouTube: Find future and archive show clips on YouTure using the handle @tennishampshirepodcast

Send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

We're back with another Quick Hit, this time looking at the five fixtures that will shape the Southampton LTA's winter leagues.

Some of the men's divisions (we're looking at you, five and six!) are in a bit of a shambolic state, so instead we focus on the divisions that got their acts together, and where relegations, promotions and championships will be decided on the next two weekends.

In county news, it's a bit of good news/bad news for padel fans out there, especially if you like to play at Winchester.

We look at some of the of pre-summer championships around the county.

Learn more about the HIOW East Championships here:

https://competitions.lta.org.uk/tournament/3471A94B-4773-457E-ABFD-3746B6502225

Sign up for Milford on Sea's Seniors Championships here:

https://competitions.lta.org.uk/tournament/6A561F66-E6DF-40D3-B453-D7A9508CC129

Send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to Episode 2.40, where we revisit the Portsmouth & District LTA — with a proper guide this time!

Robin Ellison cut his teeth with Southsea and moved on to take on captaining roles with Court X. Along the way, he started a weekly news report on tennis in Portsmouth & District, which makes him an ideal addition to the show.

Who are the big dogs in Portsmouth tennis? How do people sort out when to go to the Isle of Wight and when to call it a day on the weather? Learn the answers to these questions and more. Plus Robin takes us through Portsmouth’s enviable teas culture and boisterous awards nights.

Before all of that, we also hear from Mat Johnstone, who kicked off his defence of his number one spot in GB Para Standing Tennis with a convincing win in Sweden. Yep, we sponsor Mat now, so we look forward to regular updates from the world of PST3 tennis and Mat’s pursuit of a top 10 global ranking this year. He can do this, we believe.

Follow Robin’s reporting here: https://www.portsmouthlta.info/pressarticles

Read up on the Malmo Open here: https://www.malmo-open.com

Send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast

Send a text

It's a Quick Hit with Dave this week as we look at the results from the past two weeks across the Southampton LTA's Mixed Doubles, Ladies Doubles and Men's Doubles divisions.

First though we check in on some Hampshire tennis news. The Apsley League dates are beginning to appear online, which means all you captains out there need to start dusting off your tennis rolodexes and getting your teams ready to roll.

Podcast favourites Magda Kornijczuk (Episode 2.30) and Toby Samuel have started their 2026 campaigns, and we check in with how they are getting along.

There were 45 fixtures scheduled over the past two weeks, and 29 of them were successfully concluded, despite the usual tricky weather. We look at what that did to the tables.

And in the end, we hear doom Lloyd Smith how Waterside bested a plucky Twyford side.

Send us Fan Mail

Kingsgate and Wellow are clubs on the march across the winter and summer leagues, and it turns out that they are both on the cusp of promotion to Hampshire’s elite first division in the Southampton LTA’s Winter Ladies Doubles league.

They are two of only four teams that still have perfect winning records as we head into the business end of the winter, but that can’t last for long - unstoppable force meets immovable object in February.

Elsewhere, Riverside top the first division for now, with Thornden close behind. Dave’s Basset and Tom’s Winchester have work to do to help them in their predictions league showdown.

Before all that, we celebrate the return of tennis to the telly with the Australian Open, discuss news Naomi Osaka, and Dave tells Tom what Gen X’ers thought about Millenials when they erupted onto the scene way back when. Well, he asked! And he’s got some punchy views of his own on Gen Z!

Send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast