ANDY MCNAIR
Tennis starlet Carla Ward dreams of lifting Wimbledon’s Venus Rosewater Dish like her hero Simona Halep.
The Linwood tennis ace will star for Scotland today aged just 12-years-old but already has her sights set on the very pinnacle of the sport.
She is in Wrexham for the Junior Home International tournament where she is hoping to serve up some classic matches against the best players Wales, England and Ireland have to offer.
“I’m so happy to have gotten into the Scotland team as I came so close last year and just missed out, and I remember how disappointed I was,” explained the Linwood High School pupil.
“Being picked to represent my country is a big achievement and I’m really looking forward to playing for the team in the home nations event and competing against some of the best girls in the UK.”
Carla is ranked number one in Scotland at U-12 and will face the number one from each of the other home nations over the next three days.
She will also team up with the Scottish number two for a doubles match against each nation.
The points will then all be totted up, including the U- 14 and U-18 sections to decide on the 2019 champions.
Carla, who travelled down to Wales with the team yesterday, started playing tennis when she was just four years old in a tots class at Strathgryffe Tennis Club in Houston.
Her proud dad Jim now takes her all over the UK for tournaments with mum Julie.
He said: “Carla very quickly started improving and you can see she absolutely loves tennis.
“She trains anywhere between 10-15 hours per week which equates to around two to three hours per day, mostly at Scotstoun Leisure Centre and the David Lloyd Tennis Club in Renfrew with her coach Ashley Webster, who is great for her development.”
Carla, also a keen middle distance runner, is also number one girl at U-13 level in Scotland.
“When I’m older I would love to be a professional tennis player and hopefully one day compete at Wimbledon,” added the future tennis star.
“My favourite player is actually Wimbledon champion Simona Halep as she’s quite similar to me in the way she likes to play tennis.”