Freya C and Jed M are “really excited” to have the opportunity to play on the grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club later this summer, having both won at their respective County Finals. The Road to Wimbledon competition aims to promote junior grass court tennis in the UK, providing opportunities for 14U players to compete for the chance to play at the iconic Wimbledon venue. With almost 9,000 girls and boys from 750 clubs, parks and schools competing to qualify for the National Finals, the challenge is the UK’s largest junior grass court competition.
Following success in the early stages of the challenge, two Strathallan pupils have made it through to the finals and are looking forward to travelling to the All England Lawn Tennis Club for the National Finals in August. Strathallan’s under 14 boys’ and girls’ events were held over the first half of the summer term, where Jed M, Thomas D and Freya C all qualified for the County Finals.
In the boys’ County Final event, Thomas D lost out to the number two seed, but Jed M, seeded third, defeated the top seed in the semi-finals and went on to win the final following a first set tiebreak which he took 7-2. Freya C was the top seed in the girls’ event, and won her final in a close match, fighting back having lost the first set 4-1 to win the second 4-2 and the match tiebreak 10-6.
Freya said after the match: “I have always wanted to visit Wimbledon and now I can’t believe I actually get to play on the grass courts. I have come so far with trying my best and putting lots of effort into matches, so I feel like reaching the Road to Wimbledon National Finals is a great reward. I will be back on court again tomorrow as I look forward to and prepare for the finals.”
Jed commented: “I feel as though it will be a brilliant experience to play on the grass courts of Wimbledon where I have travelled to watch the Championships and dreamt about playing there. I have been working extremely hard to achieve this goal of mine and will continue to push myself between now and then, hopefully I will do myself proud.”
A very pleased Head of Tennis Tommy Ogilvie commented: “Freya and Jed are really excited about the prospect of playing at such an iconic venue – it will be a fantastic opportunity for them. They are both very dedicated to their tennis, and the hard work starts again today when we will look at how best to prepare for such an event.
“Freya has had a great last couple of months, and I knew going into the County Finals she had a good chance, but you still have to go out and earn it - and credit to her for coming back from a set down in the final. Freya is a gritty and competitive character on court, and I knew even if she was behind that she has been in that situation before and pulled it back, so I knew Freya could do it again.
“Jed has struggled lately with his confidence on court, but he has reflected on situations he could have done better, and he has approached his training with a positive attitude and has worked hard to achieve this result - I am so pleased for him. Hopefully this helps boost his confidence and he starts to believe in himself a bit more. Freya and Jed are really looking forward to the finals, to play on the grass, and to have two pupils from Strath experiencing this at the same time, it’s amazing really!’
As Freya and Jed look forward to competing on the grass at Wimbledon this year, we wish them all the best in their preparations and can’t wait to hear how it goes.
