| Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
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All 14 Britons in the men’s and women’s Wimbledon singles draws were eliminated before the third-round stage this year – but in the junior ranks home hopes have thrived.
British tennis has come under recent scrutiny with 11 of those senior 14 players relying on wildcards as they were not ranked high enough for direct entry.
But in the junior category, the most Britons since 2000 reached the second round – seven girls and five boys – and Henry Searle is in the semi-finals.
For British tennis’ governing body, the LTA, it is cause for “optimism”.
This year at the All England Club a record-equalling three British juniors reached the singles quarter-finals: Ranah Stoiber and Mika Stojsavljevic in girls’ competition and Searle in the boys’.
“We’re pretty strong at the moment at developing a group of boys that could turn professional,” Martin Weston, a national coach at the LTA for the men and boys, told BBC Sport.
Wolverhampton’s Searle has not dropped a set at Wimbledon this year. Should he win his semi-final against American Cooper Williams on Saturday he will break into the world’s top 10.
The boys’ tournament has not had a British winner for more than 60 years. Stanley Matthews – son and namesake of the legendary former former Stoke, Blackpool and England footballer – was the last to achieve the feat in 1962.
Wimbledon’s last British female junior winner was Laura Robson in 2008, but Weston said the current group could go on to have bright futures.
“On the girls’ side there is a real crop of very talented young players that are looking like they might go into professional tennis straight after they’ve finished schooling and education,” he said.
Stoiber, 18, is in her last year of junior tennis with plans to start playing professionally and Weston said she is “one of the better juniors in the world”, while Stojsavljevic, 14, entered Wimbledon ranked 282 in the junior world rankings and will finish it inside the top 100.
“We’re right to be optimistic but always in a guarded way. We’re not getting carried away because juniors is just an opportunity to bring the best kids in the world together and see how good…
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