Game, set and match as Shropshire's Cathie Sabin ends three years as LTA president

You can take the lady out of tennis but you would be hard pushed to take tennis out of the lady. Well this one at any rate.

Cathie Sabin is 'game, set and match' through and through. The great game has been such a massive part of her life and while she now ends a whirlwind, three-year term as president of the Lawn Tennis Association, she is nowhere near packing up the racquet.

It's always fun to spend time chatting to Cathie and we caught up during the Christmas hub-bub, cafe-style in Cathie's home town of Much Wenlock.

And for the record she reckons the copious cups of coffee she enjoys have no particular effect on her at all.

"For instance, even if I drink coffee during the evening, it never keeps me awake," she says.

Doubtless over these past few years, Cathie has relied on gallons of the stuff as she has literally raced not just up and down the country but across the world in the name of tennis.

The first female president of the LTA, she has seen the rise of the glorious game in Great Britain and last year, came the icing on the cake when she was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for her services to the sport.

Cathie became the first woman to take on the role in 2013 which also happened to be the Lawn Tennis Association's 125th year.

Her reaction to the OBE news was predictable. She found it hard to believe. But now it has happened, she says: "For me it is recognition of the volunteers because sometimes they are not valued enough.

"It is about recognising that people who do things voluntarily are worth looking after."

And that has been her mantra down all these years.

A former PE teacher at Idsall School in Shifnal, she has also played Shropshire county tennis, is a member of Bridgnorth Tennis Club and is still enjoys playing as well as organising.

But Cathie Sabin is very much more than that.

And the number of her amazing exploits is matched only by the number of times she says "I could never believe that anything like this could happen to me."

That includes teaching young footballers and stars-to-be when they were based at Lilleshall Sports Centre including the likes of Michael Owen, Sol Campbell, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe for instance.

To rise so high in the national ranks through the Lawn Tennis Association to become its first woman president, take her seat in the Royal Box at Wimbledon and to regularly appear on court at the end of some of the biggest tournaments, must have been magic.

She has travelled the world, has met the great and the good of the sport and helped change the face of tennis for the better.

But while the front of house might seem full of sporting glamour, the hard work behind it all can be pretty exhausting – and that's if you are only listening to the work and commitment of the president.

The secret is that Cathie Sabin has thoroughly enjoyed the experience, all aspects of the world of tennis and also seeing the sport make such enormous progress during her time.

Like millions more, Cathie puts much of that down at the feet of one family and the incredible success of two brothers.

She says: "So much has to be down to Andy and Jamie Murray who have so inspired our other players. And now we have four number one players in Great Britain. I mean who would have thought it when you think that not so long ago we were down there in the bottom groups. Now the men and the women are doing so well."

Few would argue with that. Though I did float the thought that Andy, world number one, has not always presented a charismatic side.

Cathie chuckled: "He is lovely but he was a stroppy teenager wasn't he and now he has grown up. He also says the baby has changed his life."

Our top woman Johanna Konta has also gone from being ranked 687 in the world in 2008 to ending this season as number 10. No wonder Cathie simply says: "Amazing."

As are our wheelchair players who are also producing equally amazing results.

Cathie also pays tribute to the Queen who has just handed the tennis patronage over to the Duchess of Cambridge as Her Majesty relinquishes just some of the 600-plus charities of which she has been patron or president for so long.

"We would want to thank her for all she has done and to welcome the Duchess as she steps in," says the retiring president.

Cathie also reflects that right across the world of tennis, people become 'like your own family.' And wherever life leads her next, you can't help thinking that will never change.

But as she points out: "I am still on the LTA Council and management committee, though there is a 70-year rule so next year I'll ride off into the sunset!"

Many locals hope that means spending more time in and around our county in which she is so well known and respected. At which point, Cathie also talks of her husband John who she says has been so brilliant in his help and support: "I simply couldn't have done it without him," she says.

Ask her for special moments to remember over these past few years of gold medals, Davis Cup triumphs and Wimbledon Championships and she immediately puts the British Tennis Awards top of the list.

And while Davis Cup is a passion, she won't be at the next clash with Canada, adding: "It's not fair to an incoming president really, is it. But I'll be watching every move on television."

Over these past three years, Cathie Sabin has written and delivered around 130 speeches for as many dinners and other occasions, has driven countless miles and flown many more. But now, it's time to catch up with family, with grandsons who love spending time with grandma, their sporting hero. They are all off on holiday in the new year. And what then? "Oh rebuild the kitchen, I think!"