Iain Bates (born 24 January 1979)[1] is the head of women's tennis at the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

Iain Bates
Country (sports) United Kingdom
Born (1979-01-24) 24 January 1979 (age 45)
PlaysTennis
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 760
Doubles
Highest rankingNo. 623
Medal record
Men's Tennis
Representing  Great Britain
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2003 Daegu Men's Doubles

Career

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Bates started playing tennis at the age of six.[2]

Bates was a promising British junior tennis player,[3] who won the boys doubles final at the 1996 Osaka Mayor's Cup,[4] and reached the second round of boys singles main draw at the Astrid Bowl and Junior Wimbledon in 1997.[2]

He later became a university lecturer.[3]

Bates was Lawn Tennis Association women's tennis manager until February 2013.[5]

Bates was appointed head of women's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association in February 2013, replacing Leon Smith.[6][5]

Bates was also the Lawn Tennis Association Olympic Team Leader for the 2016,[7] and 2020 Summer Olympics.[8][9]

Bates has worked with Emma Raducanu since her early teens.[10] He was part of her support team for the 2021 US Open where she won, and became her temporary coach in April 2022.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Bates Iain – profile", tennisexplorer.com
  2. ^ a b "Iain Bates Juniors Singles Activity", International Tennis Federation
  3. ^ a b "Episode 78: Iain Bates – LTA Head Of Women's Tennis", SotoTennis Academy, 18 November 2020
  4. ^ "Iain Bates Juniors Doubles Activity", International Tennis Federation
  5. ^ a b "Bates appointed as head of women's tennis at Lawn Tennis Association". Sky Sports. 13 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Iain Bates appointed new head of British women's tennis". BBC Sport. 13 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Four tennis players named to represent Team GB at Rio Olympic Games", Lawn Tennis Association, 24 June 2016
  8. ^ "Tennis Team Announced for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics", Team GB, 24 June 2021
  9. ^ "Liam Broady added to Team GB's tennis squad for Olympic Games". Whitchurch Herald. PA News Agency. 18 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Pace of Emma Raducanu's improvement 'truly remarkable', says mentor". Evening Standard. 9 September 2021.
  11. ^ Gray, James (26 April 2022). "Emma Raducanu seeks new coach again after split with Torben Beltz less than four weeks out from French Open". iNews.