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In four weeks, the sound of umpires’ calls and balls thudding off grass and rackets will again ring out at The All England Club.
From August 8 to 13, The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Tournament - the largest junior grass court tournament in the United Kingdom – will be held for the 15th occasion. Due to the redevelopment of the No.1 Court complex, the contest will be staged at Aorangi Park.
“There is always tremendous excitement,” says tournament director Paul Hutchins. “We have 144 kids - many of whom have not been to Wimbledon, many of whom have never played on grass – and the tournament represents the pinnacle of their career. We give them the full Wimbledon experience: a tour of the grounds, the museum and a player party.” The youngsters wear all-white kit and are accredited with an official photo-pass. Like the professionals, they have access to physios on site.
The Road to Wimbledon grassroots programme began in 2002 as a Club initiative to support junior development and encourage more local clubs to take on competitive play at junior level. More than 10,000 young people from over 800 clubs, parks and schools competed through to 44 county finals with 128 boys and girls qualifying for the national finals played on grass at Wimbledon each August.
In 2014 Hutchins introduced a two-track qualification system whereby all junior players rated division 10 to 7 play their Road to Wimbledon in their club, school or park; and players rated division 6 upwards play in one of the seven regional venues in order to qualify for the national finals.
With the AELTC looking to expand the Wimbledon brand into Asia, Hutchins, a former GB Davis Cup player, also ran a pilot scheme in India. “I had captained the Commonwealth Games team and knew India,” he explains. “We took Tim Henman and Dan Bloxham, Head Coach at the AELTC, and conducted clinics and visited academies, schools and clubs to promote junior tennis in India – and ultimately signed up India for Road to Wimbledon in 2015, 2016 and 2017.”
This was the second year that the top 16 boys and girls from four singles events held in Indore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai were invited to the Wimbledon Foundation Junior Masters in Kolkata in April with the two boys and two girls finalists invited to make up part of the field of 144 in the UK HSBC National Finals on the grass at Wimbledon in August.
Early in 2016, the Road to Wimbledon travelled to China. Jeremy Bates and Dan Bloxham conducted a training camp for China’s top 8 boys and girls. Two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na added her star appeal to the initiative – and the top two Chinese boys and girls were also invited to compete in the national finals in August.
"At first they looked at me zipping around as if I were from a strange planet,” said Bloxham. “The cultural exchange was interesting. We introduced energy and a love for the game. We talked a lot about the Wimbledon standard. How often are you in pursuit of greatness when you train? When you do your stretches? When you eat? Every time you put on your tennis shoes?”
The new international feel to the Road of Wimbledon finals in August not only shows young players how they do things differently in other countries but also lessens the fear factor about competing against international peers.
“If you don’t play internationally until later you tend to think those players are different and better,” says Bloxham. “They see Andy Murray beating players from other countries at the top level. To play against players from other countries themselves makes them realise they are all human and beatable.”