Solihull’s Alana Griffin upset the number six seed at the AEGON British Junior National Championships on Monday. The 12-year-old beat Harriet Dart 4-6 6-2 7-5 in a thrilling match which drew the largest crowd of the day.
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 great result and I always believed I could win. At a set down I knew I had to make a few changes to my game play but that I also just had to keep being aggressive,” said Griffin.
“I knew she liked to play short rallies so I had to keep the ball in and make the most of it.
“Coming through qualifying was good for me as it was a good warm-up to the event.
“I love playing on clay so was looking forward to playing here in Bournemouth as the surface suits my game."
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 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 North Scotland’s Joanna Henderson who beat Durham & Cleveland’s Caitlin Hindmarsh 7-6 (3) 6-3 in the final, while Hindmarsh and Sussex’s Kyria Dunford won the girls’ doubles trophy.
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.