The AEGON British Junior National Championships are well underway at the West Hants tennis club in Bournemouth and unfortunately local interest in the event ended today when Ryan Frankel and Josef Dodridge both bowed out.
Frankel lost 6-4 6-3 to top seed Kyle Edmund while Dodridge was eliminated by number five seed Billy Harris 6-0 6-0. The two boys from Bournemouth, who were competing in the 14 and under age category, are both AEGON FutureStars.
The AEGON British Junior National Championships is the highest domestic accolade available to
Britain’s most promising young players and past champions included the current men’s and women’s British number ones, Andy Murray and Anne Keothavong.
“It was a tough match for me and I struggled to get going,” said the 13-year-old.
“It was also frustrating for me because I feel that clay is my best surface as it’s a very tactical game.
“I had a good three setter in the previous round [beating Brooks Allen 6-3 0-6 7-5] and I was pleased to have made it into the main draw, so I have plenty to be positive about.
“The nationals is a great tournament but I think now I take a bit of break from tournaments and take what I’ve learnt from here back to training.”
More than 400 of the best boys and girls in the country will compete across qualifying and main draws for the National Championships, which has been running for 101 years, at both the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton and West Hants tennis club.
As mentioned former winners include Murray and Keothavong, as well as former British Number One Tim Henman, and the aim is that the AEGON British Junior National Championships will produce more British winners.
"The AEGON Junior nationals are a great way to pit yourself against your peers and battle it out for the title of the best in Britain,” said Keothavong.
“It's also a chance to see some of the most talented young players in the country compete against each other - hopefully we'll see some of them stepping up to the pro game in the future.”
The Grade 1 tournament, for boys and girls, is split between four different age groups; 12 & under, 14 & under, 16 & under, whom will all compete in Bournemouth while the 18 & under tournament will take place in Roehampton. A 9 & under and 10 & under Invitational Tournament will also run alongside the Championships at both West Hants and the NTC respectively.
Since 2006 there has been a 300% increase in the number of young people who play six or more tournaments a year, but this is a figure British Tennis is driving to increase even further in order to create more winners.
Last year’s 14 & under title was won by Wiltshire’s Samuel Hutt who beat Nottinghamshire’s Joshua Ward-Hibbert 6-1 1-6 7-6 (4) in the final, while Hutt also picked up the doubles title with Suffolk’s Myles Orton.
This is the first year that the prestigious competition has been supported by AEGON, a leading life assurance company. In September 2008, AEGON was announced as the first Lead Partner of British Tennis. AEGON backs the game at all levels, from grassroots programmes through to international events.