Loughborough-based junior tennis player Louis Marsden has had an incredible 9 months in tennis rounded off with his efforts in the 10&U Clay Court Nationals at Queenswood School in Hatfield on the 25th & 26th May.
Back in September, Louis, now county Number 1 in his age group, wasn't actually considered a core part of the Midlands regional squad for his age group, but his run of form through the winter and into this summer season has been spectacular, making semi-finals or better in his last 8 County and Regional level tournaments, with 2 tournament wins, and it was that run of form which earned him spots in the National Level tournament in Nottingham at Easter and the event a couple of weeks ago at Queenswood.
He finished 11th in Nottingham and, despite it being his first ever clay court tournament, he repeated that result at Queenswood. He started the weekend in blistering form in the qualifying section, winning his first set 4-0 against a player currently ranked 7th in the country, before being pegged back and eventually losing a match deciding tie-break 12-10. He won his next match in straight sets, a match with both players playing consistently attacking tennis, which was effectively a shoot-out for a spot in the main draw of the tournament. In the main draw he fell to the current national number 4 before going on to secure strong results on the Sunday to finish 11th overall in the event.
Louis, who attends Swithland St Leonards Primary School, has seen his National Ranking rise to number 16 at 10&U level and with 2 more national events coming up in the summer at Bath and Sheffield, he's now working towards a place in the Top 10 nationally by the end of the summer. He trains at Loughborough LTC with the Inside Out Tennis team and has achieved all of this despite working on a budget just a fraction of that which many of the players he's up against are putting into their tennis programmes each week. Louis is currently seeking sponsorship from local companies and individuals to help him push even further towards the top end of the national rankings. If anyone would be willing to help out, in return for advertising opportunities if wanted, please contact the Inside Out Tennis team on 07903 975211 or at info@insideouttennis.com