THONGSBRIDGE tennis star Holly Horsfall has received a boost with an invitation to the Wimbledon Championships.
The 15-year-old from Hepworth, who has enjoyed a series of strong performances in International Tennis Federation events this year, has been invited to SW19 on the middle Saturday of the championships thanks to her success in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon tournament last summer.
Horsfall will start her day by having a tour of the facilities with Wimbledon’s head coach Dan Bloxham.
She will then take part in a bespoke clinic along with top Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative players and other 2012 Road To Wimbledon Champions with HSBC ambassador Tim Henman.
The two hour clinic will take place on championship court 14 and will be followed by a VIP lunch and then complimentary tickets for Centre Court for the rest of the day.
Horsfall’s most recent competitive trip was to Montenegro for a junior International Tennis Federation event.
Horsfall played the first week in the Montenegro Open in the coastal town of Bar and the second week in the Podgorica Open.
The teenager reached the last 32 in the main draw in both tournaments in the singles having come through the qualifying rounds.
In total she played seven singles matches, winning four and losing three – and Horsfall also played three matches in the doubles.
A notable result was beating the No1 seed in qualifying in the Montenegro Open when Horsfall beat Yana Kochneva from Russia, who is world ranked 1,250 in the ITF’s Under 18 section, 6-1 6-0.
The Thongsbridge player also reached the quarter-finals in the doubles in the Podgorica Open with her American partner Elyse Lavender.
The two results mean Horsfall climbs 50 places to 1,858 in the world junior rankings.
