AS competitive tennis slowly starts to emerge from its cocoon this summer, Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club could be the first British venue to stage a post-lockdown tournament outside of the LTA National Tennis Centre in London.

The Roehampton venue has already been earmarked to stage the Schroders Battle of the Brits men's tournament, set to feature Andy and Jamie Murray and Dan Evans, from June 23-28.

It is hoped that the event will raise £100,000 for NHS Charities Together, while the British women will be in action at the same venue in the £30,000 Progress Tour Championships from July 14-18, where Harriet Dart, Naomi Broady and Samantha Murray are expected to play.

Roehampton will also stage four British Tour - the level below the worldwide tours - events from July 3-26, again on hard courts, and Ilkley is set to follow on with a grass-court men's and women's tournament from Monday, July 27 to Saturday, August 1.

"We have pushed the entry deadline back two weeks from June 12 to June 26 and are still waiting for further information, but there is a chance that our tournament will go ahead," admitted Ilkley LT&SC's general manager Charlie Maunder.

Ilkley is only a Tier Two event - the lowest of the three categories - but Maunder believes that the entry might be stronger than normal as players have been kicking their heels for four months waiting for Coronavirus restrictions to ease.

Speaking about the potential higher-quality entry, he said: "You would think so. There has been no tennis so if there is an opportunity to play, people will take it.

"But we are looking at things such as only small-scale food halls and there may have to be a reduced entry as it will pretty much be an outdoor event and we may have to condense the entries for the Ilkley Open, which is running alongside it."