Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, Unchain the Plain’s Juven Rittles and Aden Thomas.PHOTOS: Samantha Lee-Jacobs

Drawing large crowds and big names in politics, sport, music and government, the third annual Street Tennis tournament, also known as Wimbledon in Westridge, served up all the action for young and old.

On Tuesday 2 July, the street was shut down to feature this year’s two street courts and a third grass court in a quest to claim back the streets and open spaces.

Organiser Rodney Brown says: “With the turnout we had, it grows every year. We want to highlight that it is the June school holidays and there is nothing happening in the street. When I grew up, the June school holiday was ‘the thing’. With Wimbledon on the horizon, it is about getting kids to be active.”

With safety and security concerns around having children play on the streets or parks and a lack of resources, this initiative was born in partnership with like-minded organisations.

Brown says reclaiming these open spaces means less opportunity for them to be used to field social ills.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who attended the event for the first time, says while he has never played tennis before, he enjoyed putting his beach-ball skills to use.

“I have heard about this wonderful community gees that brings people together, brings people out of their homes to enjoy outdoors,” he says.

The tournament also featured TV and Radio personality Aden Thomas, musician Salome, DJ Portia, politicians Reagen Allen and Nazier Paulsen and the Western Cape Minister for Cultural Affairs and Sport, Ricardo Mackenzie.