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admin · Site Admin Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 80

Wimbledon 2004 represented a huge step forward in my career as a tennis player. At the beginning of the year one of my main goals was to make an impact in at least one of the Grand Slams. Although I was bitterly disappointed in losing at the quarterfinal stage, I had definitely made an impact on the tournament.

In the first round I was drawn against a Wild Card entry from the Solomon Islands. As it turned out this was a good draw. I won the match 6-2, 6-0. This was the perfect match to have in the first round as it presented an opportunity to play my way into the tournament. It might be the only time all year that I get the opportunity to do that. Having played the junior event last year I had the experience of what it felt like to play at Wimbledon. However, as a tennis player, there is no better feeling than competing on the lawns of Wimbledon, especially as a Brit. In the second round I played Sergei Bubka Jnr from the Ukraine (and yes, he is the son of the Olympic Pole Vaulter). I actually played him in the warm-up tournament in Roehampton the previous week and beat him 6-4, 6-4. It is never easy to play the same person in successive weeks, however it is much better if you have beaten them. When I saw the draw I thought to myself "there is only one thing better than beating somebody once, and that is beating them again the next week!" This was the attitude that I took when I went on the court so I was even more pumped up than he was. I really enjoyed this match. I started really well and took the first set 6-1. He raised his level of serving in the second set and so did I so the match went with serve to the tiebreak. By this point of the match I was aware of growing home support. It was a truly fantastic atmosphere to be competing in. I raised my game in the tiebreak and in finding near my best tennis came out the winner 7-1 to take the match. Now I was really in the tournament and it was time to turn the heat up.

Next up was the fourth seeded Slovak, Kamil Capkovic. Again, another tough match. But who said winning Wimbledon was going to be easy? And ultimately, that was my goal. I got off to another great start and broke him in his first service game. I was playing in front of my biggest crowd of the tournament so far on court 14. It was a fairly nervy match and the tennis was patchy. I have to say that the support was magnificent throughout the whole match and that was definitely a big factor in me closing the match out in two sets. I won 6-3, 6-4. In the circumstances and the windy conditions I had delivered a solid performance. It was not my best tennis but it was good enough to beat my opponent on the day. That is what winning a big tournament is all about. You only have to beat what is on the other side of the net.

Now that I was in the Quarter- Finals, I was starting to get noticed and I had various media commitments to fulfil. My run in the tournament and the various media opportunities that I earned enabled my family and my Team around me to get at least some of the credit they deserve. As far as I am concerned no amount would be enough because if it wasn't for every single one of them I would not be writing about reaching the Quarter- Finals of Junior Wimbledon. However, I am certain that they will receive a lot more recognition in the future as I become more and more successful.

I was pleased with the way I performed to reach this stage of the tournament but I was not at all surprised. I had put in the work and was therefore expecting to perform how I did. In the quarters I played a Frenchman called Jeremy Chardy (keep an eye on the name) who I had played three months earlier and got soundly outplayed. I knew I had a tough test ahead of me but I was ready for it. As I walked on to court, court 11 was packed and the stage was set for battle. I could not wait to get started. However, the first set got interrupted three times by rain, destroying the rhythm of the match. This was great, I was getting the full Wimbledon experience. We returned to the court for the final time with me serving at 4-6, 2-2 0-30 down. That soon became 0-40 and I had to use all my reserves to hold serve for 3-2. The standard of the match increased all the way through the second set and after I had managed to carve a set point on my opponents serve, only to be thwarted by his class on the day, we reached a tie- break. He came up with three world-class points at the business end of the tiebreak to win the match. I had given everything I ad and had raised my games to new levels. However, no matter how well you play, it is about winning and losing, so the loss was very hard to take in the days after the match.

Wimbledon is, without doubt, the best place in the world to play tennis and only very few people earn the opportunity to fulfil their childhood dream. I tried to enjoy every match as much as I could. I have every aspiration of returning to the Championships to compete for many years to come, but nothing is ever certain, especially in sport. I found that this attitude helped me to perform at as high a level as I did. My next and last Junior Tournament will be the US Open in September. Having made an impact at Wimbledon, there is only one goal left to fulfil in Junior Tennis - winning the US Open!