New podcast launched for Wrexham’s top tennis tournament

Pictured: Rose Courteen, right, interviewing British tennis star Heather Watson, the runner-up to Sonay Kartal, after last year’s W100 Shrewsbury final - the precursor to October's Lexus Wrexham Open - will present the Wrexham Ready podcast.

An exciting new podcast has been launched as the countdown continues to the ITF World Tennis Tour coming to Wrexham this autumn. The Wrexham Ready podcast will deliver a series of episodes leading up to the start of the Lexus Wrexham Open, as well as daily updates throughout the tournament between October 19-26. The opening 10 episodes, to be recorded at different venues across Wrexham, will turn the spotlight on the people involved with the biggest event in women's tennis, outside of the grass court season, to be staged in the UK this year. 

The tournament at the Wrexham Tennis & Padel Centre is set to feature leading British and international stars, including players ranked in the world’s top 100.

Rose Courteen, the presenter of the Wrexham Ready podcast, is looking forward to giving listeners an insight into what it takes to bring a world-class tennis event to North Wales.

Rose said: “The Lexus Wrexham Open is such an exciting new addition to the city and we want the podcast to introduce listeners to lots of the people involved and the roles they will play. Wrexham is one of only 30 cities in the world to be hosting an International Tennis Federation event at W100 level this year, so we will be telling the stories of the individuals, groups and organisations that are part of the tournament.

“Each episode will look at a different aspect, with the first one featuring tournament director Richard Joyner, chief of officials Phil Evans and Simon Johnson, the chief executive of Tennis Wales. They will provide some background about the event and what we can all look forward to. It was great to talk to them just as they had finished working on Wimbledon and they provide some insight into the roles they play both there and at Wrexham.

“There will be many different themes to the other episodes, including talking to the those responsible for training the ball crew who will all be chosen from local schools, and some of the volunteers from the Wrexham community who make such an excellent contribution to the success of the tournament.

“We will then offer a daily podcast each day during the week of the Lexus Wrexham Open, including interviews with the players.” 

Rose, who is currently studying for a degree in broadcast journalism at Media City with Salford University and will be part of the on-court presenting team at October’s tournament, is excited to be visiting venues in Wrexham to record the podcasts.

“We will be seeing lots of the city, which I’m really looking forward to,” she added. “Some of the event sponsors, including Net World Sports and Total Fitness - the gym the players will be using during the tournament - will be among the host venues.

“We will also be visiting Humble and Whole Bakery, which will be supplying the cafe bar set up for spectators and officials to use at the Wrexham Tennis & Padel Centre during tournament week. There’s lots to look forward to as we provide a behind the scenes look at the preparations for the event.  

“The podcast is available to listen to from all the usual providers, including Spotify and Apple, by searching for Wrexham Ready, so we encourage people to subscribe to make sure they don’t miss any of the episodes.”