Harry Simpson, Thomas Wright, Eden Richardson and Sophie-Harriet Drakeford Lewis travel out to Utrecht, Netherlands on Saturday to represent GB at the 12th European Youth Olympic Festival from 14th-19th July.
Day four
Team GB’s tennis duo of Thomas Wright and Harry Simpson took on Estonian pair Kristofer Siimar and Mattias Siimar in their quarter-final match of the doubles competition. Wright and Simpon took the first set 7-5 but lost the second set 6-2 and match tie break 10-4.
Damien Roberts, LTA women’s tennis coach and tennis team leader said: "It's been a great experience for all the players. They've fought extremely hard all week and are really disappointed to not have won a medal but the week has been great fun!"
Day three
Thomas Wright and Harry Simpson face the prospect of two matches in a day as both the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the doubles competition are scheduled for Thursday.
Wright and Simpson won through to the quarter-finals and now face the second seeded Estonian Siimar brothers, but Simpson says they hold no fear for the Brits:“No-one wants to win a match by default but it means we’re into the next round and we were winning at the time,” said the 16-year-old.“Obviously, as brothers, the Estonians will probably be a pretty well-drilled pairing but I feel like me and Tom are getting better with every game we play together. It’d be great to get to the semis as you’re within touching distance of a medal but we’ve got a job to do in the quarters first and we’re just focussing on that.”
Day two
Thomas Wright and Harry Simpson will hope to continue their progression through the boys' doubles draw taking on the fifth seeded pair from Serbia.
“We didn’t do all that much against the Icelandic pair, we were always in control and our serve was never broken,” said Simpson speaking about the opening round doubles match.“We will keep improving as a pair the more we play and we are looking forward to the next round.
“The Serbian pair will be strong but we are up for the match and I think we can go far in this competition."
Meanwhile in the singles, Wright lost to top seed Mate Valkusz 6-0, 6-1, while Simpson missed out to Maksim Tybar 6-3, 6-1.
In the girls' doubles, Eden Richardson & Sophie Drakeford-Lewis were defeated in round one.
Damien Roberts, LTA women’s tennis coach and tennis team leader said: "The team spirit has been good. Our players have gotten on well with the other athletes, so the experience overall has been great for them!"
Day one
Thomas Wright and Harry Simpson got Team GB off to a winning start at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) as the two progressed through to the second round of the singles on Monday.
Wright was in dominant form against Romania’s Sorin Iordache as he triumphed 6-1, 6-2 while Simpson was made to work hard before eventually seeing off Polish 9th seed Piotr Matuszewski 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Wright’s victory has earned the 14-year-old a clash with the Hungarian No.1 seed Mate Valkusz in the round of 32 but the youngster was in confident mood after his comfortable first-round win.
“I was definitely a bit nervous before I went out there," he said. “That was my first time wearing the Team GB t-shirt and it definitely gave me that extra bit of belief, you know you are not just playing for yourself but also the whole team.
“My next opponent may be the No.1 seed but I don’t think it means that much really, every game is going to be tough out here and we’re all roughly the same ability. My opponent has not played a match yet so for me I have to try and keep this flow going and try and take it into the next match.”
Meanwhile in the girls' singles opening round, Eden Richardson lost to Russian Daria Kruzhkova 6-0, 6-2 and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis missed out to another Russian, Tatiana Nikolaeva 5-7, 5-7.
“I am still looking forward to the doubles where I will be hoping to turn it round and play better,” Richardson said. “I try to play as much doubles as I can at tournaments, Sophie and I have played together once or twice. I am looking forward to starting again fresh and it should be really good.”
Damien Roberts, LTA women’s tennis coach and tennis team leader said: "Both the girls fought hard and gave everything and it was a good effort from both boys."
European Youth Olympic Festival