E L T I P S V R T

But tennis fans can make up for it with an extra dose of their favourite sport – combining it with a transatlantic break.

The seaside city of Newport, Rhode Island, is where Americans first got hooked on tennis.

Soon after arriving I made for the 19th-century Horseshoe Court, birthplace of US tournaments. I could almost hear the ghostly grunts of players hanging in the air.

The court is at the former Newport Casino, which opened in 1880. It was a social club for the city’s elite, never a gambling venue.

Originally the lawn was where the tycoons and toffs took tea and talked business. But the chat and cigar smoking moved inside when it was taken over by the new tennis craze.

It now houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

But top stars on the pro circuit still come here for an important tournament.

One week after Wimbledon, Newport hosts the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open, the only lawn tennis tournament in North America.

It is part of the ATP – Association of Tennis Professionals – world tour and is linked to the first tennis THE ATP, Association on Tennis Preofessionals Tournament runs from July 16 to 22 and tickets range from £30-£80 for the South Grandstand, £40-£140 for courtside chairs and £60-£70 for box seats in the shade. THERE are ten Newport Mansions open to the public, some year-round and others seasonally. YOU can pay for a one house visit, about £13 adults and £6 children, or a five house visit, £26 adults,