When Ed Beckett boarded his flight from the UK, he wasn’t just heading overseas for a holiday, he was chasing grass court tennis, sunshine and a uniquely Victorian sporting tradition.

Ed has travelled all the way from York, England, to take part in Tennis Victoria Country Week, joining more than a thousand players on Victoria’s famed grass courts.

So how did a player from North East England find himself at one of Australia’s biggest tennis tournaments?

“Through my brother who’s been in Australia many many years and this is his seventh Country week:, Ed explains.

After years of hearing stories from afar, Ed decided it was time to experience it for himself.

“My brother had talked very highly of the grass court tennis and it being a great social week. [There are] also very few grass courts in North East England, [and]  I love playing on grass.”

For a player from the UK, particularly from a region where indoor courts dominate, the chance to compete on quality grass courts is rare. Country Week offered not only the surface he loves, but a scale and atmosphere unlike anything back home.

The journey itself was no small undertaking. From freezing winter temperatures in England to peak Australian summer heat, the adjustment has been dramatic.

“Going from -7 C in UK when I left to a predicted 38 C today, the sun is brutal! I’m blaming the sun for my lack of sets so far.”

But while the conditions may be extreme, the experience has more than lived up to expectations as Ed explained that the entire tournament “seems extremely well organised.”

And when it comes to the courts themselves, he’s been blown away.

“The quantity and condition of so many grass courts to accommodate I think approx 1500 players is something else”, Ed says.

But for Ed, what stands out most isn’t just the scale of the event, but more so the spirit surrounding it.

“[There is] a real feel of a tennis community where you play hard at tennis and even harder afterwards, [and there is also] really great etiquette on court.”

That blend of competitive intensity and off-court camaraderie is what keeps players coming back year after year and what draws international visitors like Ed across the globe. He says he’s already planning to spread the word when he returns home, at the “David Lloyd Club where I play (mostly indoor.)”

From York, England, to regional Victoria, Ed Beckett’s journey highlights the growing international pull of Tennis Victoria Country Week, a tournament where the grass is pristine, the sun is strong, and the community spirit travels just as far as the players who come to be part of it.