Wimbledon 2023 results: Henry Searle wins boys' title to end 61-year wait
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Wimbledon 2023: GB's Henry Searle wins boys' singles title
Wimbledon 2023 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details here. |
Henry Searle ended Britain's 61-year wait for a boys' singles champion at Wimbledon with a dominant victory over Russian Yaroslav Demin.
The unseeded 17-year-old won 6-4 6-4 in front of a buoyant Court One crowd.
Searle raised his arms towards his box when he sealed the trophy after Demin sent a forehand long.
The last British boys' champion here was Stanley Matthews - son and namesake of the former Blackpool and England footballer - in 1962.
A large contingent of supporters sporting T-shirts printed with 'Henry's Barmy Army' sat in the stands, chanting and jumping to their feet with every point Searle won.
They have followed his progress throughout the tournament, creating a raucous atmosphere at all of his matches and that was no different as Searle took to one of the All England Club's show courts.
Wolverhampton-born Searle, an avid Wolves fan, also received a message from the football club's manager Julen Lopetegui in the build-up to his final and the youngster said it was "pretty cool" to have his successes recognised in that way.
Roared on by the support of his family and friends in the crowd, Searle was fired up from the beginning and needed just one break of serve in the opening set to get off the mark.
The teenager has not dropped a set this tournament and that did not look like changing as he broke in the first game of the second set with a huge forehand.
From there it was plain sailing as Searle brought up three match points, sealing victory on the second one when he pumped a powerful serve which fifth seed Demin could only net.
"It's a pretty special feeling and it is not going to come too often and I am going to try and enjoy it. It was amazing in front of this crowd today," Searle said.
The context of the victory and significance to British tennis makes for impressive reading.
Searle is only the 12th British boy to win a boys' Grand Slam title and the first since Oliver Golding won the US Open in 2011. He is the first Briton to win a junior Wimbledon title since Laura Robson in 2008 and, most impressively, the first boy to lift the trophy in more than half a century.
He entered the tournament at number 27 in the junior rankings but will leave comfortably inside the top 10 after his best result at a Grand Slam, having previously reached the last eight at the French Open.
Searle took time to sign tennis balls and autographs and took pictures with young fans before he left the court, saying he would "do his best" to continue working hard and perhaps one day replicate the success on an even bigger stage.
Wimbledon 2023: Henry Searle family celebrate boys' singles win
Searle hoping to replicate previous greats
Only four players who won the boys' singles title have gone on to win the men's - Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, Pat Cash and Stefan Edberg.
It is an elite club that Searle will be hoping he can add his name to but for now, the victory is positive for British tennis, which has come under scrutiny in recent times.
With 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu injured, no British women competed in the main draw at the French Open this year and 11 of the 14 senior players competing at SW19 relied on wildcards as they were not ranked high enough for direct entry.
British number two Dan Evans said earlier this year that Raducanu's win at Flushing Meadows "papered over the cracks" but for British tennis' governing body, the LTA, success for the youngsters at Wimbledon is cause for "optimism".
In the boys' under-14 singles there was victory for Mark Ceban, who beat Slovenian Svit Suljic 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 before Britain's Hollie Smart missed out on the girls' under-14 title in a 6-3 6-1 defeat by Serb Luna Vujovic.
Later, Hannah Klugman and Isabelle Lacy missed out on the chance to become the first all-British pairing to win the girls' doubles title at Wimbledon, losing 6-4 7-5 to Czech pair Alena Kovackova and Laura Samsonova.
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