Wimbledon final for tennis star
Plymouth College pupil, Pierce Widdecombe, 14, is delighted to have made a final and a semi-final in his first outing at Wimbledon. The talented player was competing in the HSBC U14 Road to Wimbledon tournament, the largest junior grass court event in the country.
In the doubles competition, Pierce and partner, Jake Norris, reached the final against the Indian 1 and 2. Unfortunately, at 3 games all in the first set, an injury cut the match short – as he ran to retrieve the ball, Pierce crashed into the back wall of the court and snapped his front tooth in half. Despite medical treatment he was unable to continue.
In the singles tournament, Pierce topped his box in the preliminary stages making it to the semi-final. Although he lost in a tie-break to eventual tournament winner, Siddant Banthia, he beat several boys in the top 25 UK rankings during the course of the competition.
The following week, despite having just had surgery on his broken tooth, Pierce claimed the U16 title at the Penzance Open. He also went on to win the U14 singles and doubles titles at the Devon County Championships, where he was runner up in the U16 singles. Earlier in the summer he won the Torbay U14 Open. These great results saw Pierce finish in the top 30 in the U14 UK rankings. He now moves up into the U16 category.