Sidmouth Tennis Club’s 14-and-under HSBC Road To Wimbledon Tournament took place at the club last Sunday, writes Lesley Cranston.

Sidmouth Herald: Hannah Rudgard winner of the girls event with Jessie Wiltshire runner upHannah Rudgard winner of the girls event with Jessie Wiltshire runner up (Image: Archant)

The odd heavy shower not able to dent the enthusiasm of the competitors or spectators.

With 14 young players competing for the title it was a busy day, the matches were tight and everyone fought hard to keep advancing through the draw.

Eventually, after a long day and many closely contested matches the winners were decided.

Well done, to all who competed and in particular to Hannah Rudguard who won the girls draw after a tough two sets play off against Jessie Wiltshire, 4-1, 5-4. Congratulations to Louis Spalding who battled hard in a marathon match coming back from a set down to beat Ollie Truman, 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 10-6. Even at this young age this is already an old rivalry, the boys play each other regularly and both had been on court just the previous day in an Aegon Tournament at Seaton for over five hours. It is a tribute to them both that they were able to push through exhaustion to compete again and produce such quality tennis only 24 hours later.

Hannah and Louis will go on to compete in the County stage of the event in June, the winners will then go forward to compete in the 14U finals on the grass at The All England Club, Wimbledon. We wish them luck in the next stage of the competiton!