A PAIR of emerging tennis talents will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Andy Murray having booked their places at Wimbledon.

Bournemouth-based Jack Pinnington-Jones and Ringwood's Toby Samuel, who are both 13 and train at West Hants, will grace the famous stage after winning HSBC's Road to Wimbledon regional qualifier.

They will participate in the national finals of the 14-and-under section between August 8-13.

Jack beat Giacomo Revelli 3-6, 6-2, 10-7 in a nerve-wracking final qualifying match to make the grade, while Toby's progress was more straightforward as he prevailed against Victor Prelici 6-1, 6-1.

“It’s an amazing feeling," said Jack. "I might need to train a bit more but it is definitely going to be fun.

“Giacomo deserved to win the first set. I couldn’t do anything about it but, in the second, he became a bit more defensive so it allowed me more time to get a bit of rhythm.

"In the third set, it was a tie-break and just down to whoever got the better start. Fortunately, that was me. It will be my first time at Wimbledon so I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait.”

Toby said: “It was tough. My opponent started really well and I had to get on top of him. In the first set, he had a perfect game but then I got over it and played better.

“The chance to go to Wimbledon is amazing. I want nothing more than to get on the court there. I have been a few times and that makes it extra special to now have the chance to go to play there. It is going to be so much fun.

“I want to be a professional tennis player. My goal is to be in the top 10 in the world so I am doing all I can to try to make it. Andy Murray is my favourite player and I want to follow in his footsteps.”

The Road to Wimbledon National 14-and-under Challenge, the UK’s largest grass court tournament, forms part of HSBC’s investment in grassroots tennis, an area of the sport the official banking partner of the championships has been supporting since 2008.

Each year, more than 10,000 youngsters take part in the series of national tennis tournaments.

After watching the action for herself at the regional qualifier in Worthing, HSBC ambassador and former Scottish international tennis player Judy Murray was impressed with what she saw from the crop of 2016.

“This programme is a very big part of the British tennis calendar and youngsters recognise the HSBC Road to Wimbledon as a tournament that offers the prize of playing at Wimbledon."

  • HSBC is the official banking partner of the championships and is committed to supporting grassroots tennis, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars to take their tennis careers from the back garden to Centre Court through the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 & Under Challenge. @HSBC_sport