The city of tennis

The Bordighera Lawn Tennis Club, founded in 1878 and therefore Italy’s oldest, initially offered ladies and gentlemen little more than an entertaining way of spending some time hitting a ball with a racquet and sipping the de rigueur 5 o’clock tea.

By 1928, however, as it celebrated its 50th anniversary, the Club was famous for organizing top level international professional tennis tournaments. The courts, where the princesses of Savoy once played, have also hosted champions such as Tilden, Lacoste, Cochet, Hopman, De Morpurgo, De Stefani and Vido.