Dinas tennis youngsters on road to Wimbledon (From Penarth Times)

Dinas tennis youngsters on road to Wimbledon

DINAS POWYS juniors are on the road to Wimbledon. The U-14 boys and girls club tournament was completed on Friday, June 13.

The next stage, the county finals at UWIC in July is the stepping stone to actually playing on the hallowed lawns of the All England Club.

The club finals produced some great tennis for those watching.

Stephanie Rees, playing her first Road to Wimbledon tournament, made it through to the final with a close fought match against another up-and-coming star of the future, Amy Hooper.

Kelly Blake, a county badminton player also playing her first R to W tournament, was the other girls' finalist. Kelly has adopted her badminton style of play with great success this year, helping the girls' U-13 team to win their group in the National Junior Club League.

The final produced a very close match, Stephanie winning the first set 6-3, Kelly the second 6-4 and a tense third tiebreak saw Stephanie take the title.

The boys' final, postponed due to playing commitments earlier in the week, was a thrilling encounter.

The umpire was under no illusions this was going to be a tough match to control. Why? The finalists were two very competitive brothers, Chris Hignett aged 12 and James Hignett aged 10.

James, the pre-tournament favourite, was full of confidence having recently won a U-10 tournament at Swansea Tennis Club.

Chris, with his pride at stake, had a battle on his hands.

Early sparring set the scene for the match. Deuce, Advantage James, Deuce, Advantage Chris, Deuce, Advantage James and so on.

Chris eventually took the first set 6-3 with some inspired tennis.

James needed to dig deep. The second set was even stevens all the way through.

James served for the set at 5-4 but Chris pulled it back. Chris served for the set at 6-5, but James was having none of it. 6-6 tiebreak.

A very close breaker saw James pull off a great escape winning it 7-5. The third set, a winner takes all champions tiebreak, first to 10 points, was a stunner.

The umpire, having earlier issued verbal warnings to both players, was in complete control of the situation (not). Mum and Dad, watching on the sidelines held their breath.

The rallies got longer, the screams got louder. Match point Chris. "No way," said James. Match point James. "Unlucky," said Chris. Another match point to Chris. This is it, "Take that," said James. Then it was James again, Chris was having none of it. At 13-12, the time had come for Chris to give his all, "Yes," said Chris.

A fantastic match, credit to both players, until the next time- watch this space!

Stephanie and Chris will now represent the club in the County Finals to be held at UWIC in July.