A PUPIL from Birchensale Middle School in Redditch has qualified for his eighth National LTA tennis tournament taking place in Northamptonshire.
Robin Whitewood aged 10, is ranked 33 in Great Britain in LTA’s current 11 under rankings and started training in September at Lexus LTA Nottingham Tennis Centre where the head coach is John Black, who has coached former professionals like Kyle Edmund.
Tony Ravenscroft provides Robin’s local training as head coach of Inkberrow Tennis Club and has been influential in bringing through many Redditch tennis players including current professional Felix Gill on the charge up the World Rankings after competing at Wimbledon in 2022.
Birchensale has given Robin access to its sports hall after school for Robin to practice serving and volleying and Redditch Tennis Club has donated equipment to the school.
Robin, who lives in Batchley, has since gone on to win another four Herefordshire and Worcestershire Titles, meaning he has been crowned County Champion in five out of five competitions.
His goal is to continue to compete and train with the best in GB for his age.
He is one of five 10-year-old boys at Nottingham ranked in the top 35 in Britain and is on target for another appearance in the LTA National Championships this summer in Nottingham where he hopes to improve on his 29th place finish of last year.
His favourite player is Carlos Alcaraz but his inspiration is his coach Tony, who he wants to emulate and ‘become a coach developing the talent of underprivileged local juniors’.
Robin’s dad Mark said it was a team effort.
“Birchensale has been really understanding and supportive of Robin’s tennis commitments and none of this would be possible without the great coaching of Tony and his team.
“Robin has overcome so many obstacles, most notably not having a tennis court in the whole of Redditch to practice on over the last two years.
“He was a footballer, scoring goals for Coventry City, Cheltenham Town and Walsall and a County Cricketer for Worcestershire until he decided to focus solely on tennis three months ago.
Visit Robin’s Instagram page – @robinwhitewood15.5.15 – to follow his journey through the sport.
