Wanborough's Louise Hunt heads to Turkey this week in a bid to win back-to-back NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour titles after claiming both the women's singles and women's doubles titles on Sunday at the Esporta Cardiff Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, Britain's penultimate world ranking event of 2010.
The 19-year-old British No 3 faced her toughest task in her opening match in Cardiff as she edged out Newport's Debbie Brazier 6-3, 6-4, but then dropped a total of just four games in her next three round-robin matches to seal the third women's singles world ranking title of her career. She susequently partnered Cambridgeshire's Laura Coteman to success in the women's doubles final.
"It's really nice to get another title under my belt and this one means quite a lot to me because, although it's my third world ranking title, it's the first ever singles title I've actually won at a tournament in Britain", said Louise who retains her current world ranking just outside the world's top 20 before this week's Izmir Open in Turkey, another ITF Futures Series event on the NEC Tour.
Louise, who is part of the Tennis Foundation's Wheelchair Tennis Performance Programme, has recently attracted additional support from the local Swindon Branch of Goldsworthy's Hairdressing and hopes that this week's trip to Turkey will reap even more rewards. "I'm really grateful for the support Goldsworthy's are giving me and to win my first tournament since the partnership started is exciting," said Louise. "Before my win in Cardiff last weekend, my first two world ranking titles had come in Turkey, so I hope I can add more success this week."
Louise is no stranger to success, having earned her first world top 20 ranking earlier this year, but as well as excelling on the courts she has been hitting the heights in a different way recently, too. Last month she joined her mother Linda as they made tandem parachute jumps from 10,000 feet to help raise funds for the charity Get Kids Going by way of a thank you for the charity helping to fund the provision of Hunt's sports wheelchairs in recent years while has has courted success in wheelchair tennis as well in the wheelchair races in the London Mini Marathon.