Member Article

This Sir Stelios-backed 'Tinder for tennis' startup has launched in London

The family of ‘easy’ brands now has a new member after the launch of a new platform matching tennis players together that has, rather predictably, been dubbed the ‘Tinder for tennis’.

EasyTennis has launched this week in London after founder and entrepreneur Ganesh Rao received a £10,000 prize from easyJet founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou as part of a competition to find new ‘easy’ brands.

The platform works by matching up tennis players with partners to play on nearby public tennis courts, with the ability to match users based on their skill level, location and availability.

Rao explained that the idea for the new business came about after he became frustrated at not being able to find fellow tennis plans to play against.

He said: “Tennis is a great sport but it’s no fun if you’ve got nobody to play with. Frustrated that I couldn’t find anyone I tried joining a tennis club but unless you ‘knew’ people there I actually had the same problem – just an expensive one!

“I decided to create an online tennis club to make the whole process easier and that’s how easyTennis was born.”

Sir Stelios welcomed the addition of easyTennis to its brand line-up, which includes easyJet and easyHotel amongst others, and said its ethos of taking the fight to expensive tennis clubs fitted in with the wider easy brand values.

He added: ““easyTennis is a great way to meet new friends and improve your game. It’s also a great fit with our ‘easy’ brand values – taking on the posh, expensive clubs and making tennis more accessible and affordable. Definitely for the many – not the few!”

The service has initially launched in the capital and has plans to go nationwide later this year with the online booking of public courts set to roll out in October.

Ultimately, Rao has aspirations for the platform to become a holistic online tennis club, offering coaching, tournaments, tennis equipment and tennis holidays

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →