Williams appointed Senior Professional at Newport
Move marks the latest British player to transfer to the USA
World Number 10 Lewis Williams will become the latest British real tennis professional to ply their trade in the USA following the announcement of his appointment as Senior Professional at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport.
Williams will leave his current role as the Head Professional at the Leamington Tennis Court Club to work under current Newport senior professional Josh Smith, who will be promoted to Head Professional. The shuffle has been set in motion by Tony Hollins’s move from Newport to Boston.
“I’ve always enjoyed my time visiting Newport for tournaments such as the US Pro singles,” said Williams, “When the opportunity arose to work there alongside Josh, it felt like too good an opportunity to be missed. It’s a fantastic town and club which I am excited to be a part of.”
Williams joined Leamington in early 2022. Since then, his game has progressed from an unranked player to the World Number 10, improving his handicap by 10 points and now plays off scratch. In that time, his best accomplishments have been reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open twice, including in the most recent edition.
“I’ve been at Leamington for nearly 4 years now and feel like I have developed both as a club professional and as a player,” he said, “Leamington is a club which hosts a lot of large-scale events so I feel like my organisational skills have really improved along with all aspects of being a Head Professional at a busy club. It’s also quite a different club to others that I have worked at in the past so it has definitely helped me broaden my skill set and adapt what I do to suit a wider range of members.”
Williams’s departure from Leamington continues the exodus of professionals from Britain to greener pastures abroad. He follows Ben Taylor-Matthews, Max Trueman and Josh Smith as player who have moved to the USA since the pandemic. His move means the UK will be home to just 3 of the world’s top 10 players and 6 of the top 17. Of the remaining 3 players, just one — Robert Shenkman — is under the age of 40.
“One of the main reasons for me making this move is my playing ambitions,” Williams continued, “I think daily practice with a top player such as Josh can only be good for your game. In addition, it will be great to have one of the major ranking events on my home court each year. Josh and I worked together previously, at Holyport, and both felt that it was a great combination. Since then we have stayed in touch and I think both felt if the opportunity arose to work together again then it would be well worth exploring.”
Williams’s move means that Leamington will have a completely fresh professional team for 2026, as the incumbent assistant professional Chris Aley will be moving to the Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club.
Leamington will now begin the search for a new Head Professional, with the call for applications being posted by the T&RA and IRTPA on Wednesday.