Wimbledon's tennis stars of the future (From Sutton Guardian)

Wimbledon's tennis stars of the future

12:17pm Thursday 25th August 2011 in Tennis By Graham Moody, Sports Reporter

Westside Tennis Club’s Chloe Halliday and Southfields-based Nicholas Nugent both enjoyed success at this year’s HSBC Road to Wimbledon U14 national finals at the All England Club last week, writes Matt Maltby.

The tournament, now in its 10th year, focuses on British schoolchildren and aims to nurture their talents by giving them experience of playing at Wimbledon on the same courts that host the Grand Slam for the professional stars.

Halliday, seeded fourth, reached the semi-finals of the tournament for the second-year running but lost to second-seed Olivia Noble 7-5 6-1 in the semi-final.

“It is so nice to be playing on the courts I grew up on training with the Wimbledon junior tennis initiative,” said the 14-year-old.

“Reaching the semi-finals for a second year running is a great achievement.”

Nugent teamed up with fellow 14-year-old Freddie McGeechan, from Thames Ditton, to win the boys' double title.

The pair, seeded third, won the final 6-3 4-6 10-2 against William Bissett and Joshua Wilson to claim the trophy and have their names embossed on the Aorangi Pavillion Road to Wimbledon Roll of Honour, alongside Junior Wimbledon champions such as Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg.

Nugent also made the quarter-finals of the singles tournament.

But he lost to eventual winner Bissett 4-6 6-4 6-3 before getting his revenge in the doubles.