This was not about sizzling forehands, strong backhands or service winners. This was all about tennis-playing kids joining hundreds of Kep residents on Saturday as the broom and bucket brigade cleared garbage from five key locations of the coastal town, including the beach, crab market and port.

The third Kep Kep Clean, jointly organised by Cambodia-registered NGO Three Hearts Foundation and Tennis Cambodia, was pivoted towards changing the mindset of the population on reckless littering and the proper use of bins to dispose of waste.

“[We had] more volunteers taking part than previous years, [and it] also covered more areas,” THF managing director and Tennis Cambodia’s global goodwill ambassador Hisae Arai, a former Miss Japan, said yesterday.

Tennis Cambodia secretary-general Tep Rithivit said: “It is always important for us to involve our juniors in these events because it’s not only good for us to let people know about Tennis Cambodia, it’s also good for our players to know about them and why it is important to participate.”

To finish the day, five tennis coaches introduced a novel lucky draw in which they hit 30 balls into the crowd. Whoever caught one was presented with either a Tennis Cambodia cap, T-shirt or towel.