REDDITCH tennis prodigy Felix Gill has won his latest pro-tournament in Spain.
The 21-year-old, who is from Batchley, is now ranked 429 in the world, moving up 87 places after his victory at the clay court competition in Zaragoza.
Felix beat Argentinian Julio Cesar Porras 6-4, 6-1 in the final in Zaragoza after solid performances over two weeks.
He reached the semi-finals in Melilla two weeks ago and reached the final last week in Sabadell.
A spokesperson for Redditch Tennis Club, where Felix started playing and is still a member, said: “Felix has had an amazing run on the pro-tour finishing off with this title.
“Congratulations to Felix from everyone at the club.
“Keep up the hard work.”
Last year Redditch Tennis Club successfully completed its ‘Ready 2 Play on Clay’ crowdfunding campaign to raise £25,000 towards resurfacing two tarmac courts which were over 16 years old and had fallen into a serious state of disrepair.
Sport England pledged £10,000 towards the £60,000 target and the rest of the funds were raised through a number of events and activities.
The £25,000 target to create two world class Red Clay Plus courts, similar to those Felix would have played on in Zaragoza, was smashed within just six weeks.
The introduction of the courts would enable people in the borough to play tennis on those courts all year round but Redditch Tennis Club members are currently unable to use their base because of a charges dispute.
The club claims Redditch Borough Football Club (RBFC), which has levied the charges, has no right in doing so as the section of the site where the courts are is not included in the lease RBFC has and it has not spent a penny developing it.
RBFC, which pays Mettis £1,000 for its lease, claim the charges would go towards the day-to-day running of the social club, including electricity, water health and safety inspections, site security and other overheads.
The tennis club said each of its members joined the social club and paid an annual fee as part of the agreement, along with floodlight tokens for the courts, helping pay for its upkeep.
The club has been calling for Mettis – the owners of the land where the sports and social club is – to meet with them to discuss the situation but say they have not heard anything back.
The Standard contacted Mettis a fortnight ago and is still awaiting a response.
