Last weekend, Team Flybe player Ben Johnson competed in the 9 & Under Nike Summer British National Tour Final Tennis Championships at the West Hants Club in Bournemouth against the top 16 players on the National Leaderboard (players who compete in National events throughout the summer season).
Ben won his first three matches in the box stages with out dropping a set. He then went on to beat Jay Darvey in straight sets in the quarter finals very convincingly.
In the semi-final Ben was a set and 4-2 down and came back to win the match 8-6 in the third against James Schlater from Bournemouth. It was a tight match but Ben's high percentage of first serves pulled him through and he won the match on an ace down the 'T'.
The final was against number 1 seed Theo Purkis. Ben out powered Theo in the first set taking it 7-3. In the second set despite some difficult moments, Ben came out victorious 7-5. He saved his best tennis until the final set and hit fantastic passes, aces and some power smashes.
Lets hope Ben can carry this form into the 10 and unders.
Well done to Ben and his coach Liam Storey and his mum Jayne for the coaching and support on and off court.
Jayne said, "Ben also had a good run leading up to the summer nationals this August. Whilst on holiday visiting his uncle he won a regional tournament in Harrison, Georgia, USA. He was ruuner up in the 9 & Under event at the grade 3 Torbay Open and he won both the 9 & Under and the 10 & Under events in the Truro grade 3. We are very proud of him!"
Liam would like to say a big thank you to the coaching team at Exmouth for all their input and help in Ben's development, along with the generosity of theirr sponsors LDM LTD, Bigwoods Agri LTD and Landmark. Without their support coaches wouldn't be able to attend tournaments and offer much needed coaching support to players competing throughout all ages and standards.
Team Flybe:
The Team Flybe player receives a collective package of training camps, trips away and home matches against players from High Performance Centres around the Country to provide them with experience to support their player development and give them a taste of what life as a tennis pro might be like. Flybe's sponsorship of this programme has been a great advantage to our most promising young players.