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As young as seven, Jamie Baker would be watching Wimbledon on the television and telling his mum and dad that he'd be doing that one day. "They used to say 'so you will' and laugh," he says. "I'm only 19 now but within the next two days, I will." It has been a remarkable voyage of self-belief and sacrifice. One that took him away from his Glasgow home as a young teenager, so he could learn at the elite Loughborough tennis centre. Not long after he was forced to re-evaluate when a knee injury kept him out the game for a year, with doctors warning that he may never get the opportunity to achieve his dream. But by that stage the Glasgow youngster had made up his mind, and he's a determined lad. That tenacity and fighting spirit, the willingness to go that extra mile, dig that little bit deeper is a major part of Baker's game and it's reaping rewards. Ranked 580 in the world last year, he started this year at 390. Halfway through the year and his performances have seen him jump a further 100 places. The pay-back is a wildcard into Wimbledon and a first round match against Andreas Seppi, with the possibility of a second round meeting with one of his childhood heroes should they both win their opening match. Andre Agassi was one of the players Baker would focus on as a wide-eyed kid in front of the television. At an invitation event at Stoke Park Club, London, this week he played him and although he came off second best he would love a rerun on the SW19 courts. "The draw has been quite good to me," he said, assessing his chances of progressing beyond the first round. "I'm definitely happy with it. He's predominantly a clay court player, ranked between 70 and 100 and if that wasn't enough, they've given me the incentive of a match with Agassi if I win." So burning was Jamie's desire to play tennis professionally and so evident his early promise, his father actually gave up his job and moved down to Loughborough with Baker as a 13-year-old to allow his dream every opportunity to flourish. Now he wants to repay his parents' sacrifice with a showing on the Wimbledon courts they can be proud of. "The way I look at it, this marks the end of one journey and the start of another. I want to play in this tournament for the next 10 years. It's my first time playing the senior event at my home grand slam and I'm still learning. I will still be learning in 10 years but I want to be doing it on this stage. I want to be playing the big events and, for me, this is the biggest."
To read the full article go to: http://sport.scotsman.com/tennis.cfm?id=927242006