It has become a summer ritual for the Young family to attend the annual tennis tournament in Hunstanton, a Victorian seaside town in Norfolk. Normally a minor stop on the amateur circuit, it was elevated to number three in the county earlier this year on account of the quality of its grass courts. For some reason, they have suffered less than most from the drought, although they looked pretty threadbare to me. Separately, it is graded 5/6 by the LTA.
About ten years ago, Caroline entered the ladies’ doubles and, because she was partnered by her tennis coach, took home a cup. It’s been downhill ever since, with the young Youngs making less progress each year as they’re forced to compete in older categories. I’m not a player – or, rather, I am but cannot abide the humiliation of being beaten by some wily vet in his eighties – so my role is to sit on the sidelines and assure my children they’ve played really well after they go out in the first round.
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