IT is not every day that you can say that you beat one the country’s biggest tennis stars in a competition.

But that is what members from Hartford Tennis Club are bragging after defeating pro sportsman Tim Henman in a BBC challenge.

As part of the broadcaster’s Wimbledon coverage looking back at classic tournaments, with this year’s event being cancelled, it is asking fans to submit their wheelie bin challenge videos.

For this, those taking part have to see how many balls they can get hit into a bin in 30 seconds.

And club members Mark Gleave, Jarrod Wood and John Walsh hit more than double the four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist’s score of five and saw their efforts shown on national TV.

Explaining how their entries came about, Mark said: “I’ve got a friend who works for the BBC Sport team working on the Wimbledon coverage, and he recommended we try the tennis wheelie bin challenge.

“A couple of us went down to the tennis club and decided to have a go.

“To beat a pro like Tim Henman was really satisfying, and we actually got more in our practice goes than ones that we did when we were filming them.”

Hartford Tennis Club has since reopened four of its courts following the lockdown, with club sessions also returning from Monday, albeit with certain coronavirus restrictions and social distancing measures in place.

And this is much to the delight of members, who say they are glad to be back after time spent away from the courts.

“I didn’t realise just how much I would miss it under lockdown and it’s really good to be playing again,” Mark added.

“I’m really enjoying heading down twice a week, and other members are down more often than that.

“It’s not just the competition factor, but the social side of it as well.”

See Mark, Jarrod and John in action by visiting bbc.co.uk/iplayer and searching for Wimbledon.