COVENTRY’S David O’Leary fought hard to win his second round match at the AEGON British Junior National Championships at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton today.
The talented youngster, who is a member of the AEGON FutureStars squad, put everything in to his game in order to take a win from Richard Gabb from Somerset with 7-6(6) 1-6 6-3 in the 18&under boys singles. His second round match was more of a struggle than his impressive debut performance on Monday against Keelan Oakley from Sussex, which he won in straight sets.
The 18-year-old will now face Ahmed El Menshawy tomorrow [Wednesday] in the quarter finals stage of the competition.
The AEGON British Junior National Championships is the highest domestic accolade available to Britain’s most promising young players and past champions include the current men’s and women’s British number ones, Andy Murray and Anne Keothavong.
O’Leary admitted that this had not been his best performance, however felt that he put everything in to his game to ensure that he progressed to the quarter finals.
He said: “It was a good match and I battled hard to win it. I was 4-5 down in the first set, but I dug in and came back to win.
“My adrenalin dropped at the start of the second set and I found myself 0-4 down and then I lost that set 1-6. But I then came back to play a good game in the third set and fought hard to get a good lead. Richard Gabb tried to pull it back but I played two solid games to go 5-3, then 6-3 to close out the match.
“I’m looking forward to playing Ahmed El Menshawy tomorrow who is the number one seed.”
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.
In addition to Murray and Keothavong, former British Number One Tim Henman is also a former champion, and the aim is that the AEGON British Junior National Championships will produce more British winners on the global stage.
"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 18 & under title was won by Dan Cox who beat Berkshire’s Marcus Willis 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-1 in the final, while Willis and Berkshire’s Neil Pauffley won the boys’ doubles.
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.