BUDE tennis star, Louis Davey, competed in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon International Finals at the world famous All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club from August 14 to 19, and enjoyed a run to the final in the doubles.

The 13-year-old, who boards at Bournemouth Collegiate School on a tennis scholarship and plays for West Hants Tennis Club, qualified for the 14 and Under Boys’ Singles event as one of four qualifiers from the South West Regional qualifier in Gloucestershire in June, and joined other Brits as well as representatives from India, Hong Kong and China in the 32-man field.

The players were split into eight groups of four at Wimbledon with the top two advancing to the knockout stages, while all the matches throughout the week were played on the practice courts as many of the other courts were either being refurbished or reseeded.

Unfortunately, Louis failed to make it out of the group, losing all three matches, including a defeat to Hong Kong’s number one player, Tim Gauntlet.

However, later in the week he advanced to the finals of the Regional 14 and Under Boys’ Doubles alongside his former schoolmate, Alexander Knox-Jones, but lost 11-9 in a final set decider to Warwickshire’s Harry Lazell and Hertforshire’s Joel Pierleoni.

Louis’ father, Paul, admitted it was a brilliant week as his son now looks forward to his second season at under 14 level.

Paul said: “Unfortunately Louis failed to make it out of his group in the singles but he was just coming back from injury and he was coming up against some tough opponents who were much bigger than him. However, in the doubles, Louis and Alexander reached the final and beat the number one pairings from India and Hong Kong before losing to the number one doubles pairing.”

Louis has had a remarkable journey since starting out at Bude Tennis Club. He won the under 8 and under 10 national championships before being spotted by a scout during Year 5.

He and his parents were informed of the opportunity for him to go to Bournemouth Collegiate School and be part of the West Hants Tennis Club, although he also had to go there for Year 6 in the prep school first.

Since then he’s spent two years in the main school and is about to go into Year 9. Louis combines his tennis scholarship with the core academic subjects and travelling around the UK and Europe entering tournaments.

Last year he was part of the Team GB Under 12 squad, which took part in the European Championships where they beat the likes of Belgium, Romania and the Czech Republic and won the Under 12 Boys’ Singles and Under 12 Boys’ Doubles titles at the Nike Junior National Tennis Championships.

Louis is also now sponsored by world-renowned racquet maker, Wilson after his three-year contract with Dunlop expired, while he also is part of the Tennis First Programme, which offers support to players who have the potential to one day break into the world’s top 250.

Paul says that for now, Louis is just looking to push on.

Paul said: “Louis will continue to get fitter and stronger. The age groups go up from under 12s to under 14s and last year he struggled slightly. But this year he’ll be one of the older ones and he’ll be looking to return to his old form.

“He plays all year round in both the summer and winter tournaments where they’re trying to get as many ranking points as possible. He’s now got until next September to do that and make sure he reaches the Grade 1 Open Finals.

“In October he’s also going out to Majorca (Spain) for two weeks of training and competing. The junior European tour is split into three categories with category one being the best, where all the top juniors play.

“This one is a category two tournament, so he’ll be playing against players similar to his level.

“In the long term, Louis knows he’s got an incredible opportunity to make a career for himself, so it’s up to him to see how far he goes.”