Bedford’s junior tennis star, Joshua Sapwell was yesterday given the chance of a lifetime after he was selected to take part in a special tennis day alongside former Grand Slam champions Stefan Edberg and Mark Woodforde.
Sapwell, who is a member of the British Tennis AEGON FutureStars programme which recognises and supports the best juniors in the country for their age group, was selected to take part in the once in a life time coaching session.
Edberg and Woodforde are in London to play in the prestigious AEGON Masters which is the final tournament on the 2009 ATP Champions Tour - a circuit of former World Number One tennis players; Grand Slam singles finalists and Davis Cup winners.
The two former Champions spent an hour at the National Tennis Centre passing on tips and advice to the specially selected players during the coaching session run by LTA coaches:
“It’s my ambition to be the best in the world and getting to play on court with legends like Edberg and Woodforde was amazing and hopefully will get me closer to being the best,” said 13-year-old Sapwell.
The youngsters were then given the chance to play in the stunning surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall, as part of a demonstration in front of a capacity crowd who had assembled to watch former British number one Greg Rusedski take on Australia’s Mark Philippoussis.
“The whole day was completely different to what I expected, I’ve never played in front of so many people and the Royal Albert Hall was amazing,” said Sapwell who plays for Letchworth Tennis Club.
Stefan Edberg, who won six Grand Slam singles titles including Wimbledon, the US Open and the French Open, commented:
“The session went well with the kids getting really involved, they’ve tired me out. I think we were both surprised at how good these kids are; they have powerful shots, they get on the ball well and obviously have great movement. I had no idea and wasn’t really expecting for them to get points against me.
“It’s really important that these kids continue to love what they do and that, along with support from family and coaching staff, will lead to success. It’s necessary for them to put the hours in, practice hard and most importantly to keep competing, but I’ve been amazed by the talent of these kids.”
For tickets to the AEGON Masters Tennis, please call the box office on: +44 (0) 208 233 5882, or visit the official website www.aegonmasterstennis.com.
Rights-free image attached. Top L-R: Joshua Sapwell, Mark Woodforde, Stefan Edberg, Shakeel Manji. Bottom L-R: Jonathan Gray, Vincent Gillespie, Peter Ashley, Bjorn Thomson