Rising star Harry Wendelken won the 9 and under Tournament (formerly JCT Tournament) at Hills Road Sports and Tennis Centre on 12 June. The 9 and under players play on what is commonly called the Orange Court – a scaled down version of the larger full size court with low compression balls. Matches are the best of three tie-breaks to 7 points with a two point advantage.
In a strong tournament of 17 players Harry came through his group with some adventurous play at the net. He then beat Brennan Connelly from Bedfordshire in the quarter finals 7/4, 7/5. In the semi finals he beat Harris Lister of Suffolk 7/3, 7/4. In the final he played Alistair Davies of Essex and was hard pushed especially in the second tie break but came through with a 7/3, 5/7, 7/2 win to take the title.
In the girls event all the matches were very close with Molly McDonald of Huntingdon just beating Imogen Kennedy also of Huntingdon 7/2, 5/7, 7/2.
Overall there were some really competitive matches played during the day with several matches going the full distance. Sue Rich the referee said – ‘Harry played very well during the day and in particular when he was behind in the match. All the children competed very well and it was a pleasure to referee such a good event.’