The Registro Profesional de Tenis (RPT), one of Europe’s largest tennis coaching organisations, is hoping to create 1,500 new coaches and attract 500,000 new players across the UK through its new Grow the Game strategy.

The £500,000 investment in grassroots tennis was spurred by the RPT’s claim that the UK tennis playing population has dropped 50 per cent from six to three million over the past 10 years, with more than 60 per cent of under-16s dropping out of the game.

The Spain-based organisation, whose training is behind players such as Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, cited limited facilities and coaching opportunities as some of the main reasons for the decline.

The crux of the strategy involves training new coaches and re-training old coaches for free.

Adrian Rattenbury, RPTeurope’s UK director, said: “After recent performances by the GB Davis Cup Team, it further confirms that apart from Andy Murray we need more depth. Murray trained in Barcelona as a teenager within the RPT framework, the same system that taught three number ones; Nadal, Moya and Ferrero. By throwing the net wider in the UK with more coaches, we want to get more people playing.

“We believe our timing couldn’t be better. Not only is GB tennis needing an injection but times generally are hard at the moment and offering free courses for people who have a love of sport, maybe retrain and become coaches will hopefully attract all ages, skills and experience, and create a new generation of coaches eager to attract new players and find another Andy Murray and maybe even a Nadal of our own.”