Former British No.1 Tim Henman has praised the attitude of wheelchair tennis player Luz Esperanza Merry after he joined her on court for a lesson.
Merry, 12, was given the once-in-a-life-time opportunity to train with the four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist through her involvement with the Jaguar Academy of Sport.
"Esperanza is a real inspiration," said Henman. "She's got a great attitude. She just wants to get out on the court and compete.
"She was a good tennis player before she had problems with her hip and started playing wheelchair tennis and now aged 12 she's already taking to wheelchair tennis like a natural.
"She's got a great game and hopefully I passed on a few good tips and she gave me some too!"
As a talented junior non-disabled player, Merry received coaching in Arizona, USA and Paris, France and has won over 40 tournaments in the UK, France and the USA.
But in November 2011 Merry was diagnosed with an infection in her right hip, which led to aseptic arthritis. After a series of operations, and a chance meeting with British No. 1 Lucy Shuker at Taunton Tennis Centre, the right-handed player began playing wheelchair tennis.
After joining the Tennis Foundation's Wheelchair Tennis Performance Programme recently, Merry made her wheelchair tennis tournament debut in May at the 2013 BNP Paribas World Team Cup – the wheelchair tennis equivalent to the Davis Cup – in Turkey winning gold as part of the junior team.
Despite Merry being very new to the game she has already set her sights on world domination.
"My ultimate sporting goal is to be like Esther Vergeer – the best female player on the planet – and compete at the Paralympics one day."
Find out more about Merry here.
Find out more about the Jaguar Academy of Sport here.