Coming home? Brits harness Southgate spirit in quest for SW19 glory
Great Britain duo Alicia Dudeney and Jack Pinnington Jones are eager to ride the wave of national optimism generated by the England football team as they bid to end the wait for a home winner at the Junior Championships at Wimbledon.
Wild card Dudeney is through to the quarter-finals of the girls’ draw after sensational back-to-back victories over Sofia Costoulas of Belgium and Czech Republic’s Linda Klimovicova.
Pinnington Jones, meanwhile, reached the third round of the boys’ draw following his defeat of Brazil’s Joao Victor Couto Loureiro. The 18-year-old prevailed 6-4 4-6 6-1 and will now face Kalin Ivanovski of Macedonia for a place in the last eight.
Dudeney and Pinnington Jones were glued to their phones and laptops on Wednesday night as Gareth Southgate’s England overcame Denmark to reach the final of the European Championships where they will face Italy at Wembley on Sunday.
It is 55 years since England contested a major final, when they defeated West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final, while it is even longer since Great Britain had a Junior Grand Slam boys’ champion at Wimbledon.
Stanley Matthews, coincidentally the son of the former England footballer by the same name, was the last to do so in 1962, although the wait for a girls’ champion has been considerably less. Laura Robson was the last home favourite to win here in 2008.
Nevertheless, Dudeney and Pinnington Jones are eager to tap into the excitement surrounding the prosect of an English triumph on home soil. Emma Raducanu’s run to the round of 16 in the women’s draw is also providing added impetus for Dudeney.
“I was at dinner so I didn’t sit down to watch the whole match but I had the score on, was constantly checking to see what the score was and I’ve seen clips,” Dudeney told itftennis.com.
“Everyone loves the football, my brothers were out last night watching it, my dad had it on and hopefully it’s coming home. It’s definitely inspirational. Even though it’s a different sport, just to see your country doing so well on such a big stage is motivational.
“Emma going as far as she did also. I am sure all the other Brits feel the same, it shows that anything is possible and I’m just really happy for her and really motivated by her.”
Pinnington Jones, who revealed in an interview with itftennis.com last month that he has recently taken up chess after getting hooked on Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, echoed Dudeney’s sentiments.
“My coach and I put the match on in the dorms on the laptop and we watched it from the first minute to last,” Pinnginton Jones, who is supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme, which provides world-class coaching, medical and financial support to Britain’s elite young players with the potential to reach the top 100 in five years, told itftennis.com.
“Seeing Wembley with that sort of atmosphere was amazing and refreshing and to see the whole of England on a big uplift right now is special. I definitely take inspiration from that.
“The team is really young – Jude Bellingham is my age or even younger. To see that whole squad and how they are getting behind each other is definitely inspirational. Any British triumph is brilliant.
“The ultimate dream as a Brit in tennis is to win at Wimbledon. The tournaments on home soil are more special for sure. They also bring added pressure and expectation, but you just have to accept that is the reality and push through.
“The goal that me and my team set out at the beginning of the year was to win a Junior Grand Slam, so the belief is there and I believe I can win the tournament.”
It could have been even better for home hopes, particularly in the girls’ draw, only for Matilda Mutavdzic, Kylie Bilchev and Ranah Stoiber to suffer third-round exits. Indeed, it was the first time since 1983 that Great Britain had four girls in the round of 16 at the Junior Championships.
As it is, Dudeney and Pinnington Jones are the last ones standing. Dudeney, who is making her Junior Grand Slam debut here, now faces top seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra for a place in the semi-finals.
“I don’t know her and don’t know many of the foreign girls here,” she said. “But everyone is just hitting a fluffy yellow ball on the court. I guess anything is possible.
“Honestly, though, never did I think I would be sat here in this position, and never did I think coming into Wimbledon that I would get this far. I am so happy and have had so many messages from people saying, ‘well done’. I’m on cloud nine.
“This time last week I wasn’t even sure that I would be playing here. I definitely didn’t think this was on the cards. I am so happy.”
Dudeney only started playing the game at the age of seven when she was out with her mother and her friends in a local park and the parents wondered how they might occupy their children for an hour or so. A tennis lesson won out.
“Since then, I have loved it,” she said. “I wasn’t always the best when I was younger, but I have always loved playing and over time I have got better and better. I love it just as much now as when I started.”
The 18-year-old is now in the quarter-finals of the Junior Championships and about to go head-to-head with the top-ranked girl on the planet. It is quite a story, and in true homage to Raducanu, Dudeney added: “I don’t think the laundry ladies are too happy with me because I feel like I’m constantly dropping off clothes to get washed in there because I don’t have that many white clothes with me.”