Henry Searle is excited to take to the same stage as his heroes as he bids to become Britain’s first boys’ singles champion at Wimbledon for 61 years.
The 17-year-old from Wolverhampton knocked out the top seed in the opening round and is yet to drop a set, overcoming windy conditions to defeat American fourth seed Cooper Williams 7-6 (4) 6-3 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Backed by his noisy fan club consisting of family members and friends from his tennis club, Searle moved to the brink of emulating Stanley Matthews, son of the famous footballer, who triumphed back in 1962.
Jack Draper was the last British player to make the final five years ago, while Liam Broady also reached the trophy decider in 2011, but both came out on the losing side.
Searle cites Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz as his tennis heroes, and he said: “A few years ago I watched Roger (on Court One) my first time coming to Wimbledon. It’ll be pretty special playing there.
“Being such a big tennis fan from a young age, it’s definitely inspiring and exciting to see those guys playing in such big stadiums and then being able to do it tomorrow will be pretty cool.”
Searle trains at the Lawn Tennis Association’s national academy in Loughborough, while he has also spent time at the academy of Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou in the south of France.
But Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, where he watched Andy Murray win his first Wimbledon title as a seven-year-old with many of those cheering him on courtside, has also been hugely important in Searle’s journey.
“They’ve been really supportive since a young age,” he said. “They’ve offered free membership for years to try and be as supportive as possible so I’m really appreciative.
“I think they’ve put it on in the bar there. I hope there’s a few people watching. It’s a really cool place.”
Searle showed a cool head in a first set of few chances, saving the first break point and then creating two on Williams’ serve, which the 18-year-old did well to save.
The tie-break went the way of the British player, though, who opened up a 5-1 lead and did not allow his opponent to claw his way back.
A sizeable crowd was gathered around Court Four and there was another huge cheer when Searle’s pressure on the Williams serve paid off with a first break of serve to lead 4-2.
He then clinched his third match point before celebrating with his jubilant supporters.
In the final he will take on Russian fifth seed Yaroslav Demin, who he beat comfortably on his run to the quarter-finals of the French Open last month.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster and it’s helping me going into the match tomorrow but I’ve got to expect a better version of him,” said Searle. “Obviously he’s won a lot of matches this week and he must be feeling pretty good.”
Isabelle Lacy and Hannah Klugman, meanwhile, can make history by becoming the first all-British pair to claim the girls’ doubles title at a grand slam.
Lacy, 16, and 14-year-old Klugman defeated American duo Tatum Evans and Alanis Hamilton 6-2 6-4 in the semi-finals.
Klugman said: “It is incredible. I think our teamwork and our game has really improved this week. We haven’t really played together before so it is a shock making the final, but honestly so happy to make it. We are going to enjoy it.”
Lacy added: “We have known each other since we were so young. Winning the title would be a great way to cap off the grass-court season.”
Swiatek passes Kerber test to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
Two-time Italian Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarter-finals of this year's tournament with an impressive 7-5 6-3 win over Angelique Kerber on Monday.
Three-time grand slam winner Kerber provided Swiatek with a real step up after routine victories over Bernarda Pera and Yulia Putintseva in the first two rounds on the clay in Rome.
Kerber responded to Swiatek's first break – which came in the eighth game – with one of her own, but the world number one then recaptured her composure to force a series of break points in Kerber's next two service games, finally converting at the eighth attempt to take the opener.
Kerber refused to go away, breaking straight back in the first game of the second set, but Swiatek upped her game to take the contest away from the 36-year-old.
Swiatek dropped just three further points on her own serve from there, adding three breaks of her own to set up a last-eight meeting with Madison Keys for Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Swiatek unmatched on clay
While Kerber rolled back the years to trouble Swiatek early on, she lacked the staying power to live with the world number one in longer rallies on a surface where she is truly unmatched.
Her win ratio at clay-court events at WTA 1000-level now stands at 88.2 per cent (30 wins, four defeats), the best of any player to have played a minimum of five matches since the format's 2009 introduction, ahead of Serena Williams at 88 per cent.
Osaka sees encouraging Italian Open run halted by Zheng in last 16
Naomi Osaka's promising Italian Open run was halted by Zheng Qinwen on Monday, as the seventh seed denied the four-time grand slam champion a quarter-final place.
Following Saturday's triumph over Daria Kasatkina – her second successive straight-sets win over a top-20 opponent in Rome – Osaka laughed off the "Clayomi" moniker given to her by some fans.
On Monday, her old troubles on the surface came back to the fore as Zheng dominated from the off to make the tournament's last eight for a second straight year, winning 6-2 6-4.
Osaka saw her serve broken in the very first game only to hit straight back, but Zheng assumed control by taking seven straight games to go from 2-1 down in the opener to 2-0 up in the second set.
The 21-year-old produced a clinical performance and converted all four of her break points, winning 78 per cent of first-serve points to Osaka's 68 per cent as she teed up a quarter-final clash with either Coco Gauff or Paula Badosa.
Data Debrief: 'Clayomi' no more as Zheng triumphs
Osaka impressed on a surface long regarded as her worst in Italy, but it was a bridge too far for her on Monday, Zheng reaching her fourth WTA 1000 quarter-final.
Since the format's introduction in 2009, she is just the second Asian player to reach multiple quarter-finals on both hardcourts and clay at that level before the age of 23, the other being Osaka.
Djokovic bemoans 'completely off' performance after early Italian Open exit
Novak Djokovic lamented his dismal showing as Alejandro Tabilo profited from the world number one's "completely off" performance to triumph at the Italian Open.
Tabilo stunned Djokovic with a straight-sets victory in the third round on Sunday, winning 6-2, 6-3 in his maiden ATP Tour clash with the Serbian.
The Chilean advances to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for just the second time after Indian Wells in 2023, with Djokovic unable to explain his struggles in Rome.
"I just wasn't able to find any kind of good feelings on the court, to be honest, striking the ball. I was completely off," he said.
A six-time champion in Rome, the 36-year-old won his opening-round match at the ATP Masters 1000 event against Corentin Moutet.
However, Djokovic was inadvertently hit on the head by a falling water bottle when leaving the court after that victory.
Whether that incident impacted his performance against Tabilo remains to be seen.
"I don't know, to be honest. I have to check that," he said. "Training was different. I was going for [a] kind of easy training yesterday.
"I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance.
"Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on."
Tabilo's next opponent will be Karen Khachanov, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4, while Djokovic is made to wait for his 1100th match win.
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