Great Britain Davis Cup doubles stars Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins have high hopes of success this summer and warmed up for their clay court season by fine-tuning their game at Spain’s prestigious La Manga Club resort last week.
Fleming and Hutchins spent last week putting the finishing touches to their preparations for the clay court season under the watchful eye of coach Louis Cayer and ex-British Davis Cup team manager Paul Hutchins.
The pair, who are currently ranked in the ATP Tour doubles top ten, took full advantage of La Manga Club’s extensive tennis facilities while they also treated the resort’s guests to an exhibition match during their five-day stay.
Fleming and Hutchins are bidding for their best ever result at next month’s French Open after reaching the Wimbledon and the US Open quarter-finals last year, while they are hoping their intensive training at La Manga Club can help them achieve their aim of qualifying for the ATP Tour Final at London’s O2 in November.
Hutchins said: “We have targeted this year to make the O2 finals in London and with a good summer we should put ourselves in the running for the top eight.
“Colin and I have never played a clay court match together so it is exciting and the tournaments coming up will be a challenge and we aim to play well and to our strengths on the clay.
“I have been a fan of La Manga Club since I first came 20 years ago. The courts and the training facilities are outstanding to go with the tremendous atmosphere and weather. We needed a good place to prepare us for Monte Carlo and this has been perfect.”
Fleming and Hutchins are the latest British stars to make use of La Manga Club’s first-class tennis facilities after women’s number one Elena Baltacha spent a fortnight working on her clay court game there at the end of last month.
As well as using its 28-court tennis centre, the duo also took full advantage of the resort’s exemplary leisure offerings off the court including its swimming pools, gym and spa.
La Manga Club is one of Europe’s leading tennis destinations with its courts providing a variety of surfaces on which to play. It has previously been the venue for various high-profile competitions, including Davis Cup and Fed Cup matches, and has been used by the likes of Andy Murray and Tim Henman as a warm-weather training base. It is also an official partner of Tennis Europe.
And tennis lovers can enjoy the same facilities as the professionals and improve their game in the sun thanks to the resort’s Best Tennis & More packages.
The venue is offering fantastic discount breaks throughout the whole of 2012, with accommodation and daily tuition from the popular tennis academy’s expert coaches available from just €82,50 per person per night.
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Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming after their exhibition match with the La Manga Club Pros
Colin in action
Colin, Ross and coach Louis