No lazy early summer day is complete without an early evening in front of the tennis, your eyes swinging back and forth, the ooo’s and aaa’s oohs and ahhs as the ball skims over the net, throwing up chalk as a perfect lob lands on the base line. There’s nothing quite like watching live sport, but with, more people than ever ‘second screening’ while they watch, the market for social engagement is only set to grow.

This acknowledgement second screening is at the heart of the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s (AELTC) new partnership with TikTok launched to coincide with this year’s Wimbledon Championships. Creators on the platform, which allows users to create short video content with a chosen backing track, were encouraged to put their own spin on Wimbledon with a platform-wide hashtag #JoinTheStory.

TikTok was the most downloaded app on Apple’s App Store last year, with two thirds of the platform’s users under 30-years-old. The partnership with Wimbledon aims to appeal to a new generation of sport and music fans, to keep one eye on the Championship’s heritage while also keeping pace with the speed of media progression.

Some of the most popular videos on the hashtag include a mash-up of Nick Kyrgios to 10cc’s ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ and a rogue exploding sprinkler, set to the backing track of Mariah Carey’s ‘Through the Rain’.

#JoinTheStory on TikTok comes as part of a wider marketing strategy to encourage viewers to engage with Wimbledon on their own terms rather than just consuming a creative campaign. The hashtag plays across other social platforms encouraging participation from a wider fanbase and, crucially when it comes to the continued growth of the tournament and maintaining relevance, a younger base.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch an umpire warming up with a doubles pair to the heavy guitar of ‘Danger Zone’ from Top Gun or a heart-warming mashup of Serena Williams and Andy Murray’s partnership set to the familiar joyous tones of the Friends theme tune?