REDDITCH tennis talent Paulina Jurkowska described playing on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon as “amazing” following an impressive series of performances at the 14 and under HSBC Road to Wimbledon national finals.
The 11-year-old had qualified to appear at the All England Club after winning the girls’ event at her Redditch HDA Tennis Club before triumphing in the county final at Manor Park in Malvern where she beat club-mate Latesha Grant in the final.
Forty-eight winners from across Britain progressed to the finals held over six days at SW19 and Paulina proved without doubt she was worthy of her place there.
She progressed through the group stages in the singles event as she used every match to make improvements on the unfamiliar grass courts.
Paulina then went on to beat Mia Bartram from Norwich 6-3, 6-3 to make it into the last 16 before losing out to the number one seed from Staffordshire, Elise Dennis.
Paulina teamed up with Halle Pringle from Durham & Cleveland in the doubles event and they knocked out the number two and six seeds on their run of three match wins to progress to the semi-finals, in which they lost out to Scottish pairing Rosie Sterk and Kiera Wintle.
Paulina said: “Wimbledon was an amazing experience, I loved it.
“The best part was being able to play on the grass courts that so many champions have played on.
“I made lots of new friends and would love to have the opportunity to compete in the finals next year.”
There was further success for Paulina when she was crowned Herefordshire and Worcestershire girls’ Junior Player of the Year at the Herefordshire & Worcestershire County Championships.
Paulina was 12 and under girls’ singles champion, 12 and under girls’ doubles champion winner team-mate Latesha Grant and 14 and under girls’ doubles champion.
Redditch companies Knights Pharmacy and eResponse Recruitment provided support for the Redditch HDA players competing in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon competition.
There are opportunities at Redditch HDA Tennis Club for players of all ages and abilities to get involved in tennis.
If you would like more information about what is on offer or would like to use the facilities, contact Tony Ravenscroft by email at [email protected], call 07969 649092 or visit www.tprtennis.co.uk.
