Ciaran relishes his moment in spotlight

Tennis

Faversham tennis star Ciaran Brewer will not forget his outing at the All England Club in a hurry, despite missing out on lifting the trophy at the HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 & Under Challenge Finals.

After triumphing at the previous regional finals, Canterbury Academy pupil Brewer took to the famous grass courts last week looking to be crowned national champion.

The Appeti Tennis Centre player put in a promising showing but saw his adventure ended after the group stages.

And while unable to better British No.1 Andy Murray in getting his hands on a title at Wimbledon this year, Brewer, 14, was grateful to have been able to play at the same iconic venue as his tennis heroes.

He said: “It’s great being at Wimbledon because I was just thinking about how it’s where Rafa (Nadal) and Roger (Federer) played.

“I’d never think of playing here but Road to Wimbledon gives you a great chance to do that.

“I’ve been practising all summer for such a big tournament and waiting to try and get in because everyone is good here – there are no bad players.

“Roger Federer is my favourite player. He has won everything, it’s amazing because he practised on those courts and now I’m on them. It’s so inspiring.”

The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 & Under Challenge forms part of HSBC’S investment in grassroots tennis; an area of the sport the Official Banking Partner of The Championships has been supporting since 2008 while it also supports the Wimbledon Foundation through the Ticket Resale Scheme – with the bank matching donations made by the public.

Each year, more than 10,000 youngsters take part in the series of national tennis tournaments, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars.

Former British No.1 Tim Henman was also in attendance for Saturday’s finals day and he admitted he had been impressed with what he had seen.

He said: “I’ve been coming to this event for the past 10 years. The enthusiasm of the kids is always the same but every year the standard gets better.

“The ethos of the event is about grassroots, getting more and more people playing the game but we’ve also seen some brilliant tennis.

“For them this is a great experience, this can hopefully inspire some of them to want to come here in the future.

“Our 2014 winner, Siddhant Banthia, was at Junior Wimbledon this year. We’re not only giving them the opportunity but the belief that if they work hard, they can go places.”

HSBC is the Official Banking Partner of The Championships and is committed to supporting grassroots tennis, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars through the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 & Under Challenge. @ Hsbc_sport