Wimbledon awaits Perse tennis player

Beau (Year 8) will soon be treading the same turf as the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz after reaching the Play Your Way to Wimbledon national finals.

The talented tennis player will be taking part in the boys’ U18 doubles competition with partner Lukas next month after they battled through club and inter-counties rounds to qualify.

With both players aged just 13, they are set to be among the youngest pairs in the field of 24 teams who have made it to the All-England Club.

However, Beau is not fazed at the prospect of taking on potentially much older and experienced opponents, with the in-form duo having just won the boys’ U14 doubles title at the Tennis Europe Junior Tour event in Dublin, beating the first and second seeds along the way.

He said: “We’ve already played some teams with 18-year-olds and the main thing you notice is how hard they can hit the ball.

“I think we’ve got a good chance of doing well because we work well together. The way we both play means we set each other up a lot.”

Beau, who plays at Cambridge Lawn Tennis Club, is no stranger to Wimbledon, having played in the national finals of the boys’ U14 singles at the same tournament last year.

He said: “It felt so good to just play at Wimbledon because the courts were so nice. Everything about it was great. You got to have a tour around all the courts and it was quite interesting seeing all the things you don’t see on TV.

“Knowing the courts from last year will be helpful this time because there are no others like them.

“It takes a bit of time to get used to it, but I like playing on grass, although it’s not a surface you get the chance to play on much apart from during the summer when it’s hot and dry.”