Harry takes under 16 title as wild card
RISING tennis star Harry Lazell, 14, from Warwick Boat Club is celebrating victory in the National 16 and Under Championships at Nottingham after an outstanding season.
Coming into the tournament as a wild card, he took out third seeded Lui Maxted 6-3 6-1 in the semi-finals before a blistering display against Barney Fitzpatrick in the final to take the title a year younger than most of his rivals.
He and Fitzpatrick also combined to take the doubles crown unseeded, narrowly beating the second seeds Alex Solenenko and Arran Trainor in a thrilling semi-final 6-4 7-6, then thrashing Ben Nicol and William Trainor in the final 6-3 6-2. Harry who lives in Warwick won the U10 Nike Junior National Tennis Championship in 2014. and since then has gone from strength to strength.
A former pupil at Warwick School, he is now on a tennis scholarship at Tim Henman’s alma mater Reeds School in Cobham, Surrey where he combines his academic studies with full-time tennis training.
Last year he won the prestigious Road to Wimbledon doubles championship and has also represented Team GB in several international junior events. In December he was invited on a three week LTA trip to the US, where he played in both the Orange Bowl and Eddie Herr tournaments, two of the world’s top junior events, reaching the quarter-finals in the latter against tough competition.
When not away competing, Lazell still turns out for Warwick Boat Club which this year won the men’s coveted Coventry and District Premiership League title for the first time in several years, thanks to a side strengthened by top players including former Wimbledon giant-killerr and coach Marcus Willis, Tennis Captain Paul Martin, head coach Gavin Henderson and tour player Richard Partridge.