A teenager from Windermere - making his Wimbledon debut - has aspirations of winning the Boys’ Doubles title with his partner.
Freddy Blaydes’ dreams came true when he was handed a wildcard to play at the All England Club.
The 17-year-old teamed up for the first time with fellow debutant Benjamin Gusic Wan, 15, from Kent, at SW19.
And they thrived in front of the home crowd when they were pitted against Italy’s Fabio De Michele and David Fix from Germany in the first round.
The British pairing narrowly lost the first set 4-6 but responded well by winning the second 6-3 to force a deciding tie-break, which they went on to win 10-6.
“It’s really nice to get through the first round at Wimbledon,” said Blaydes. The crowd were great. It's super special here and it’s great to play with Ben – I’m really enjoying it so hopefully we can carry on.
“I’ve been here before as a little kid but I’ve never played here. I’ve always dreamed of it - juniors might not be men’s, but hopefully I’ll play men’s one day.”
Gusic Wan agreed with his partner's sentiments on the importance of the home crowd spurring them on.
He said: “I love playing with Freddy. It felt just amazing playing with him. The crowd were amazing, especially in the tie-break when we were struggling a little bit. They got on our side, and it pumped us up and made us play better.
They will now face USA’s Darwin Blanch and Roy Horovitz in the second round today (Wednesday).
Blaydes’ confidence was sky high going into the match after he eased his way into the second round of the Boys’ Singles on his SW19 debut with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win against Sweden’s Kevin Edengren, which he said helped to settle his nerves.
He added: “My singles match broke the ice a little bit. I wasn’t quite as tight as I was in singles, and because we’d played two sets before, I was loosened up a little bit.
“The crowd were definitely helping rather than making me nervous."
The 17-year-old, who is committed to forging a career as a pro by travelling on his own to international tournaments and up to two hours every day to train with no funding from the LTA or IFT, was unfortunately beaten in the next round 6-3, 6-0 by Yaroslav Demin of Russia.
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website.
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