Most tennis holidays are one thing or the other. Either you play a lot and the rest of the trip fills around the sessions however it can, or you are on a beach holiday with a court nearby that you use twice. The Thanyapura Tennis Retreat in Phuket is built around a third option: a properly structured five-day programme where the tennis, the fitness, the recovery, and the exploration of one of Thailand's most distinctive islands are designed to work together rather than compete for your attention.

Thanyapura sits on 23 hectares in northern Phuket, about 20 minutes from the airport, adjacent to a national park. The tennis centre has six Plexicushion courts — four covered and floodlit, two outdoor — built to ITF competition standard, the same surface used at the US Open and Australian Open. Maria Sharapova has trained here. International ATP and ITF tournaments have been held here. The coaching team is drawn from multiple nationalities and works with athletes from beginner level through to competitive club players and touring professionals. Daily group classes and more than a dozen types of private lessons run throughout the week, meaning the programme can be calibrated to wherever your game is rather than to an assumed level.

The five-day structure is purposeful. Day one eases you in — match play or yoga, a welcome session and body assessment, a personal training session. The body assessment is worth taking seriously: it informs how the coaches calibrate your sessions across the week rather than starting from a generic assumption about what you need. Day two shifts to drills on court, a personal training session, and a group excursion to Nai Thon Beach — one of Phuket's quieter beaches on the northwestern coast, about 20 minutes from the resort. Day three brings social match play alongside an exploration of Phuket Old Town, one of the island's genuine cultural assets — a Sino-Portuguese neighbourhood of painted shophouses and independent restaurants that rewards the unhurried afternoon. Day four is the most intensive: a tennis clinic, a yoga and recovery session, a personal training session, and a games night with the coaches that has become one of the more talked-about elements of the retreat by returning guests. Day five closes with light training or a personal session before departure.

The recovery infrastructure is the element that most distinguishes Thanyapura from a standard resort tennis programme. Ice bath recovery and massage are included, and the resort's spa, physiotherapy, and integrative health centre are available throughout the stay. After four days of on-court sessions and personal training, having recovery properly built into the programme rather than treated as an optional extra is the difference between arriving home having genuinely improved and arriving home exhausted.

The resort has 114 rooms across two wings. The Pool Wing surrounds a 25-metre outdoor pool and sits adjacent to the sports facilities — the right choice if your priority is minimising the walk between your room and the courts. The Garden Wing has rooms with terrace access and garden views. Both categories are available as part of the retreat package.

Upcoming retreat dates are available year-round. Enquire through experience.tennis for current availability, pricing, and to discuss which programme structure works best for your schedule and playing level.