Eastbourne Open to go ahead after 'mindless' vandalism

The Lexus Eastbourne Open tennis tournament will still go ahead despite its courts being vandalised, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has said.

Council teams arrived at Devonshire Park in the seaside town on Friday morning to continue preparations for the grass court championships, only to discover extensive damage across several tennis courts.

The LTA said on Saturday there would be "no impact" on the tournament, which is due to begin on 20 June.

Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC) said it was working closely with Sussex Police and CCTV footage from the site and surrounding area was being scoured.

Stephen Holt, leader of EBC, said on Friday: "This is an outrageous act of mindless vandalism that shows total disregard for our town, our residents and the global sporting event we are proud to host each year.

"Devonshire Park is one of Eastbourne's greatest assets and the council's dedicated team have been working tirelessly to prepare the courts for the international tournament.

"For anyone to deliberately sabotage that work is utterly disgraceful."

The outdoor tournament is considered a key warm-up for the Wimbledon Championships, which start a week later.

Players will include 2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys and home favourite Sonay Kartal, who is from Sussex.

Keys, who won the title in 2014 and 2023, is returning to the south coast in a bid to complete a hat-trick of titles at Eastbourne.

An LTA spokesperson said: "Devonshire Park is owned and operated by Eastbourne Borough Council and we are being kept updated about the incident and security on site.

"Ground staff are already working hard to repair the damage to the grass and there will be no impact on the Lexus Eastbourne Open."

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