Claudette Gilhespie from Ponteland had a brilliant run at Wimbledon after qualifying for the National stage of the annual Road to Wimbledon competition.
Claudette won the county stage of the Road to Wimbledon tournament, giving her a place into the National stage which is actually played on the grass courts of the All England Club. Claudette was sixth seed in the event, and won all of her qualifying matches, reaching the first round of the main draw. Claudette's first main draw match was described by the tournament director, Paul Hutchins, as 'match of the day'. It was against a talented Middlesex player Nency Chiphan and was battled for over 2 and a half hours. Claudette recovered from a set down to eventually win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
After the match Gilhespie said, "It was a long and tough match, what got me through it I believe was my mental strength, Nency is very strong, it was the first time I played her. I'm really happy to have won my knockout match."
Claudette had an amazing time at Wimbledon and she also got to the semi-finals of the doubles, just losing in a tie-break. She got to hit with Tim Henman on the finals day and got interviewd with the Head of HSBC bank, who sponsor the event. She also ended up with a signed Sharapova bag!
This event really is a special tournament and everyone who has gone down to Wimbledon has had the most wonderful experience - an experience of a lifetime! If you'd like to know more about 2014's event (which is taking a slightly different format, allowing for lower rated players to now have the chance to play at Wimbledon), please contact the County Office on 0191 522 5005 or NEandCumbria@lta.org.uk.