Paul Hutchins Men’s Tennis Team Leader 2012 Olympics

However, before that we must reflect on this year’s event which began in earnest in April with the club and school events taking place throughout the country. This is Stage 1, and these events will be completed come end of May.

June and July is HSBC Road To Wimbledon Stage 2 when the County Finals take place in each of the 44 counties across the UK.

Stage 3 the National Finals is staged usually at The All England CLub, Wimbledon, but not for this year.

The 14 & Under National Challenge was first started as far back as 2002 and is now in its 11th year.

However, this year there is something very different for the players to experience as it is an Olympic year.

Previously, the National Finals were played on the grass courts at the All England Club mid August but this year the National Finals will need to take place at the very prestigious Bank of England sports ground in Roehampton, adjacent to the LTA National Tennis Centre.

The reason for the change is that the Olympics are being held at Wimbledon this year and the grass courts and facilities will not be ready in time for the National Finals.

The organisation of something as prestigious as the Olympic Games is so large it takes a great deal of time to complete the dismantling of all the equipment to get Wimbledon back to normal, as well as to prepare the grass courts used for The Championships then again for the London 2012 Olympics.

The Bank of England sports ground has a long history of tennis with it being the venue where the ever important Wimbledon qualifying tournament is held each year in the week before The Championships.

It has been the scene of many memorable matches of pain, despair and elation experienced by top players who play through 3 qualifying rounds to reach their final ambitious destination of playing at the Wimbledon Championships in main draw singles, doubles and also the mixed event.

The grass courts are beautiful, overseen by Ian Wall and his staff. Ian is an expert in grass maintenance and prepares the lawns every year for the Wimbledon qualifying event and this year the HSBC Road to Wimbledon as well.

Although we are not at Wimbledon the Finals will still be very special for all who attend.

The players, parents and coaches will all be welcomed at the Bank of England this year, and HSBC would really like to continue to make everyone feel comfortable and make the National Finals a special event.

Hotel subsidy, complimentary players’ lunches, museum vouchers and a minimum of 5 grass court matches is ‘on the menu’ for players who reach the National Finals.

We are also hopeful of arranging tours of the Wimbledon grounds and museum visits and there will still be an exciting Players’ party on the Tuesday night.

The rule that players are restricted to playing only twice at the National Finals at Wimbledon has been lifted for one year and there is still a 64 singles and 32 doubles draw for both boys and girls.

Referee Denise Parnell and assistant referee Peter Finn will as usual be on hand to get the matches played on 16 grass courts, as well as being responsible for the weather!

We are looking forward to welcoming the 44 county winners and 20 best runners up to the National Finals in August.

Paul Hutchins
Tournament Director
HSBC Road To Wimbledon

Tournament Director - Paul Hutchins

Click here to apply to host a HSBC Road to Wimbledon 2012 Stage 1 Competition

Hi all,

The New Year has gathered pace and we are looking ahead to another exciting HSBC Road To Wimbledon in 2012.

There is an online entry form which I hope you will read thoroughly as the tournament format is fully explained.

This particular entry form needs to be filled in only by a club or school and not an individual player as this is for applications to host a local tournament. Once completed it needs to be sent to the appropriate County Organiser who will process all applications to host a Stage One event in their area.

Remember, entries close on 31st January, in some circumstances it may be later at the discretion of the host County. All clubs & schools need to plan to run their Road To Wimbledon tournament during April and May with the County Finals in June or July, the National Finals are to be held the week of 13 August 2012.

Please come back to me if any there are any queries and I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous 2012 Olympic Year.

Best wishes,

Paul Hutchins

The girls and boys took to the Wimbledon courts on a beautiful morning at The All England Club bathed in glorious sunshine and bustling with excitement with players from all over the country eager to get on court and spend a couple of hours with Tim Henman, who as tournament ambassador every year shares his experience of the professional tour with competitors by running a tennis clinic, before lending a hand giving out the trophies.

Just when the girls’ singles had ended and Hannah Brett of Berkshire took the main draw title battling from a set down to get the better of Olivia Noble 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. And Amy Johns of Cornwall who won her consolation final 6-2, 6-2, against West of Scotland girl Katherine Mcphie, the rain arrived like it does every so often, but for only the second time in the tournaments ten year history on the final day.

This forced the boys finals to leave the grass outside to go indoors along with all doubles finals.

And once the main draw champion William Bissett of Wiltshire conquered yet another top seed Mason Recci 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in one of the best boys finals the tournament has ever witnessed, and consolation draw winner Andrew Isaac of Lincolnshire emerged as victor in a 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-2 close tie with Durham & Cleveland’s Ryan Bainbridge, the singles event had been completed for another year.

Just after the doubles pairs had also shaken hands with their opponenents and the tournament reached the end of the road, Paul Hutchins, tournament director, and very special guests Angela Mortimer, the 1961 Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion, Julian Tatum of the All England Club committee and “the voice of tennis” John Barrett assisted by Carol Bagnald, HSBC Commercial Director for London gave the Waterford crystal ornaments and HSBC cheques to all the finalists.

Once the presentation was complete the tournament had officially ended and for the tenth time our champions and runners-up and all who took part have great memories to treasure forever.

After being crowned boy’s singles champion William Bissett said “To be the tenth HSBC Road to Wimbledon champion feels really, really great. I was a bit nervous before the match, but all my matches have been tough so I knew I was well prepared to play Mason. Before the rain delay I started well and after a bit of a wait we continued where we left off in the 8th game and I managed to keep it going to take the opener 6-4.”

“Then in the second set I lost my rhythm and was playing catch up after giving Recci a 2-0 head start. He makes a lot of balls so I knew I had to try and keep him moving and I tried to come in to the net quite a lot.”

“Competing in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon National Finals feels more special than any other event because you know that the pro’s have been here. It is amazing to still be a junior and be able to play here on the grass.”

After overcoming the nerves and a fierce contest with Olivia Noble, the new girls champion Hannah Brett said, “It feels really good to be champion. This morning I was nervous before the match, being at Wimbledon this final is different to any other. The start of the match the nerves got hold of me and I couldn’t get my legs going or hit through the ball properly while my opponent started really well. I went 2-0 up in the second set and started to feel better and changed tactics to be more aggressive.”

Brett adds, “When Olivia came back in the third set to 2-2, I was shaking but I managed to come through and win. I’d like to thank the organisers Paul Hutchins, Denise Parnell and Peter Finn for a fantastic tournament and HSBC as well for a fantastic week. And I’d like to thank my mum and dad for supporting me today.”

Mason Recci of Warwickshire during his semi-final triumph over George Hedley

The players have toughed it out for six days now here at The All England Club and at last we have our elite bunch of fourteen year olds that will contest Saturdays finals.

In the boy’s singles final, fourth seed Mason Recci will represent Warwickshire after dismantling the charge of number one seed George Hedley 6-3, 6-3. The boy from Solihull will do battle against a strong contender for the title, William Bissett, who as the 10th seed is through to the tenth final after his marathon match with Miles McDowall 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-2. So both Recci and Bissett will go head-to-head tomorrow having got the better of the top two seeds, and two best players around in their age group.

While in the girls’ singles final we can look forward to watching the top two seeds as unlike the boys, they have gone through. Hannah Brett eliminated doubles team mate and fellow Berkshire girl Chloe Lant, 6-3, 6-4, and another talented Chloe suffered at the hands of Yorkshire’s Olivia Noble who won 7-5, 6-1 over two-time semi-finalist from Wimbledon, Chloe Halliday.

The consolation draw and the doubles draws are also at the final stage after battling in the soaring heat and will be featuring on the final day of the 10th HSBC Road to Wimbledon.

Isaac Andrew of Lincolnshire will play Ryan Bainbridge of Durham & Cleveland and Cornish girl Amy Johns will meet Katherine Mcphie from the West of Scotland.

Surrey boys Nicholas Nugent and Freddie McGheehan will be trying to deny the resilient Cambridgeshire and Wiltshire duo of Joshua Wilson and William Bissett, who is in with a shout of two trophies.

Second seeds Madeleine Brooks of Norfolk and Zoe Douglas of Cambridgeshire are up against seventh seeds from Herts, Mollie Crouch and Elizabeth Hodge.

As always Tim Henman will be in attendance giving a clinic and handing out the trophies at the presentation in the afternoon.

William Bissett slides into the boy's semi-finals with a win over Nicholas Nugent

On a day where the rain finally came in and disrupted play from 2 o’clock until the close of play forcing some of the matches that had not been completed to head indoors, we now look ahead to a dry Friday and the semi-finals in the singles. The doubles events are also tantalisingly close to reaching their conclusions.

The top four seeds in the girls have lived up to their rankings and will face each other on Friday for a place in the final.

Chloe Halliday from Surrey is through to the HSBC Road to Wimbledon semi-finals for the second year running after getting the better of Hert girl Mollie Crouch 6-1, 6-0 and is looking to go one better than last year.

After her match Halliday said, “Playing in the semi-finals last year was nerve racking. At the beginning of the week I was having trouble with my forehand and yesterday I went to Wimbledon Park to practice with Dan Bloxham and the WJTI to sort things out.” Chloe adds, “I’m a year older and a bit stronger now. It’s my last year in the 14 and unders so I’m really going to go for it.”

Facing Halliday for a place in the final is Yorkshire’s Olivia Noble who saved two match points in the second set to turn her match with thirteen year old Holly Hutchinson around after two-and-a-half hours on court 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Doubles partners and Berkshire girls will renew their rivalry with each other in the top half of the draw for the right to face
either Halliday or Noble for the 10th HSBC Road to Wimbledon girls’ title.

Hannah Brett said about her good friend and partner in the doubles, “We’ve played each other lots of times since we were 10 years old. At first I used to lose all the time to her but since I’ve been going to Win Tennis Academy I’ve won more of our recent matches so it’s going to be quite interesting.”

In the boys all but one of the top four have reached the semi-finals after tenth seed William Bissett from Wiltshire edegd out the third seed from Surrey, Nicholas Nugent 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The match was for the most part played outdoors whne at 4-1 to Bisset in the third the rain came down and the boy’s headed to Wimbledon’s indoor courts. The delay did not effect Bisset who kept his lead to knock out Nugent.

George Hedley, the number one seed is yet to drop a set having conquered Sussex boy Ben Horton 6-4, 6-2 to reach the last four. Hedley said ” At Bournemouth I came runner-up and I won the doubles with Miles McDowall so I’ve been playing well and I feel confident on the grass.”

Mason Recci of Warwickshire, the fourth seed, will meet Hedley after his greater consistency and ability to handle the pressure eventually prevailed over Joshua Wilson from Cambridgeshire 6-2, 5-7, 6-0.

Second seed Miles McDowall was embroiled in a thoroughky entertaining match with 13 year old Marcus Walters. The second seed looked on his way out but turned it around to defeat the talented Nottinghamshire single-hander 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. McDowall will meet Bisset for a place in the final.

Tommy Hindley photographs the boy’s in action at the quarter-finals stages of the 10th HSBC Road to Wimbledon National Finals

Professional sports photographer Tommy Hindley captures the 10th HSBC Road to Wimbledon girls’ singles quarter-finals.