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A strong selling point is the picturesque location: it’s a hop and a skip from a sandy beach and just a leisurely stroll from a cobblestoned fishing village.

Facilities: five hard courts on site (three floodlit), eight off.

Course details: three hours daily for five days; the pupil- instructor ratio is at most six to one. Private tuition costs £20 an hour.

Escaping the courts: check out Praia da Luz’s fabulous fish restaurants, or shop in nearby Lagos, the Algarve’s finest town.

Getting there: Jonathan Markson Tennis (020 7603 2422, www.marksontennis.com) has a week in a self-catering apartment from £475pp, with 15 hours of tuition. EasyJet (0871 750 0100, www.easyjet.com ) flies to Faro from Bristol, Gatwick, East Midlands and more, from £56; Monarch (0870 040 6300, www.flymonarch.com) flies from Manchester from £102. Aer Lingus (0818 365000, www.aerlingus.com) flies from Dublin from €236.

VALE DO LOBO TENNIS ACADEMY, PORTUGAL

Tim Henman regularly trains here ... no, we can’t decide if that’s a plus or a minus either. But you might also spot John McEnroe, who is rapidly becoming an unlikely favourite with Brits (at least for the duration of Wimbledon), on the court.

Fortunately, students are spared McEnroe’s pithy put-downs during their pre-course assessment. That is conducted by chief coach Pedro Frazao, who is director of the European Coaches’ Association. Once graded into groups, your lessons run daily from 9am-11am, but the emphasis is as much on socialising as on stroke development. The resort itself is unashamedly upmarket and claims to be three times the size of Monaco — very large indeed.

Facilities: 10 hard courts and four artificial-grass courts; six are floodlit.

Course details: 10 hours over five mornings; six pupils per instructor. Private lessons from £35 an hour.

Escaping the courts: the resort has one of the prettiest beaches in Portugal and a delightful village nearby.

Getting there: Light Blue Travel (01223 568904, www.lightbluetravel.co.uk) has a week’s self-catering from £585pp, including flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and several regional and Irish airports, 10 hours’ tuition and car hire.

LA MANGA, SPAIN

You can’t have missed the headlines about nocturnal naughtiness at this sporting metropolis, but 99% of the time, La Manga is populated by well-heeled types from the Home Counties, who never go within kicking distance of football pitches or paparazzi. They are attracted by La Manga’s reputation as Europe’s premier tennis centre — with top-quality courts (it has been a Davis Cup venue and is the winter training base for the Lawn Tennis Association), top-flight coaches (probably the best this side of the Atlantic), and unique atmosphere. Its 1,400 primped acres feel more like the set of The Truman Show than a hotel. It is utterly professional, if a little lacking in character — you’ll know when you’ve been Mango’d.

Facilities: 28 courts, including clay, green and Astroturf, many of them floodlit.

Course details: 10 hours’ teaching spread over a week costs from £182; video analysis costs an extra £76. The pupil- instructor ratio is no more than six to one; private lessons cost £35 for 45 minutes.

Escaping the courts: the resort has three first-rate golf courses and a beauty salon, and there is horse-riding and sailing nearby. But the local villages pretty much close down in winter, so you’ll have to drive to Murcia for off-site nightlife.

Getting there: Barwell Leisure (020 8786 3000, www.barwell.co.uk) has a week at the Hyatt Regency from £428pp, B&B, including flights from Gatwick or Manchester.

CLUB MED, TUNISIA

Club Med has won a reputation for good tennis instruction, and this winter it opens a new tennis academy at its Djerba La Douce base. With its sister academy at Agadir in Morocco, it should offer the perfect springboard for would-be stars on a budget.

Devised by Serge Autexier, who coached the French Davis Cup team, the programme is based on the principles of bio-mechanics — according to which, good technique derives from attention to five basic areas: muscular synergy, balance, rhythm, timing and posture.

Facilities: 14 clay courts, one hard court; some are floodlit.

Course details: nine hours’ coaching across three days costs £106; a 20-hour course (five days) is from £199. The pupil-instructor ratio is six to one, and private lessons start from £17 for 45 minutes.

Escaping the courts: Djerba is undoubtedly touristy, but traditional Tunisia just about survives in the tangle of alleyways in the main town, Houmt Souk.

Getting there: Club Med (0845 367 6767, www.clubmed.co.uk) has a week, all-inclusive, from £475pp. Flights from Gatwick or Manchester.

BOCA RATON RESORT AND CLUB, FLORIDA

Florida is tennis central, and competition between its top-notch tennis hotels makes the Federer-Roddick rivalry seem like handbags at dawn. Yet Boca Raton continues to ride high as the classic tennis resort.

The attention to detail is impeccable: Boca even has high-tech underground sprinklers to ensure a consistent level of moisture on its clay courts, which ensures just the right amount of spring. As a result, you might find yourself lacing up your trainers next to Steffi Graf or Jennifer Capriati.

The resort escaped the recent hurricanes almost completely unscathed, and remains the architectural equivalent of Barbara Cartland in a sweatband: a sprawling pink 1920s extravaganza with a tennis programme that’s big on physical fitness.

Facilities: 30 clay courts, 12 of them floodlit.

Course details: choose between daily one-hour clinics (£17 a go) or a three-day programme of 150-minute clinics that costs £124. There are a maximum four pupils per instructor.

Escaping the courts: the bright lights of Miami are temptingly close by, where superlative shopping, dining and posing on South Beach are all on offer.

Getting there: Elegant Resorts (01244 897520, www.elegantresorts.co.uk) has seven nights, room-only, from £1,085pp, including flights from Heathrow and transfers. Regional and Irish supplements from £65.

RANCHO VALENCIA, CALIFORNIA

This San Diego resort was recently rated the world’s best by users of the website Tennis Resorts Online, and among the top 10 US resorts by America’s Tennis magazine. Play here is a rather genteel affair. Courts are separated by flowerbeds, and stocked with iced lemon water and fresh towels. Coaching can border on the Stepford (fast-paced drills for “ladies” are set to music, for example), but generally the standard is good: it has attracted the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan and Rene Russo. Intermediate and advanced players are especially well catered for.

The property itself is a small romantic hideaway with ritzy accommodation, featuring whitewashed beams, cathedral ceilings and private patios.

Facilities: 18 hard courts; some floodlit.

Course details: clinics are booked on a daily basis — £42 for three hours — and the maximum group size is four. Private lessons start from £34.

Escaping the courts: San Diego’s beaches are close by, as is Balboa Park — 1,200 acres of museums and galleries that add up to the West Coast’s answer to the Smithsonian.

Getting there: Rancho Valencia (00 1 858 756 1123, www.ranchovalencia.com) has doubles from £240. Flights from Birmingham, Heathrow and Manchester , via Chicago, cost from £311 return through Travelocity (0870 111 7061, www.travelocity.co.uk).

FOUR SEASONS RESORT, NEVIS

Given this resort’s status as a celebrity magnet, you may fear being foot-faulted if you’re not wearing Jimmy Choos on court. But the tennis centre is a level playing field — even if you do see Jack Nicholson sweating on the court next door. The enthusiastic coaching team are keen to help you maximise your abilities, and they host events and clinics every day, from beginners’ sessions to tournaments.

Four Seasons has a reputation for first-class service, and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are also fans — they tend to head for the golf course, which is among the best in the Caribbean.

Facilities: six all-weather and four clay courts; three floodlit.

Course details: daily two-hour clinics, some specifically for beginners or advanced; prices from about £30 a day. Maximum group size is six. An hour’s private tuition costs £45.

Escaping the courts: Pinney’s Beach is one of the Caribbean’s best stretches of sand, and the island has an array of watersports and Horatio Nelson connections.

Getting there: ITC Classics (01244 355527, www.itcclassics.co.uk) has a week’s half-board from £2,867pp, flying from Heathrow via Antigua and including unlimited court use and a one-hour lesson. Regional supplements from £60.

CARLISLE BAY, ANTIGUA

Aficionados have known about this great little resort for years, but it only registered on the international scene in February, when it was taken over by one of the UK’s most successful hoteliers, Gordon Campbell Gray. Wisely, he’s left the management of the tennis club to Peter Burwash International, which trains and employs some of the world’s best coaches.

There’s everything from a weekly (complimentary) “Never Touched a Racket Before” clinic to a round-robin doubles competition each Saturday; but the emphasis is on individual and inspirational coaching for the discerning traveller. All they ask is that you dress appropriately — no tank tops, darling.

Facilities: eight hard courts, one artificial-grass court.

Course details: 50-minute group clinics daily from £11. Pupil-instructor ratio is a maximum six to one. Private lessons from £22.50 for 30 minutes.

Escaping the courts: the resort is gorgeous, tucked into a secluded palm-fringed bay on the south coast, and with a fantastic Living Nature spa. Antigua famously claims to have a beach for every day of the year, plus scuba excursions and lots of colonial history.

Getting there: Caribtours (020 7751 0660, www.caribtours.co.uk) has a week from £2,076, B&B, including flights from Heathrow and four hours of tuition per couple. Regional supplements from £65pp.