Mimi Xu aims to maintain stellar form after being crowned LTA Junior champion

Rising Welsh tennis star Mimi Xu is dreaming of playing at Wimbledon this summer after being crowned as the LTA's 18 and Under Junior National tennis champion. Bridgend-born Xu, 14, beat Leicestershire's Talia Neilson-Gatenby 6-4, 7-5 in a high-quality final at the National Tennis Centre and she will now be handed a wildcard into qualifying for this year's Wimbledon Championships, where she could take on British No.1 and US Open champion, Emma Raducanu.

Ad/> Xu was the No.4 seed for the event and beat her fellow Loughborough University training partner and No.3 Neilson-Gatenby, 16, in a tournament that saw all four semi-finalists emerging from the LTA National Academy programme. TennisMaia Lumsden revels in comeback from long Covid after UK Pro League triumph35 MINUTES AGO National Academies are generally for players aged 13 to 18, providing high quality, high intensity daily training environments with world class science and medicine support, working in partnership with a local school, to help them successfully develop into emerging tour professionals.

The academies are led by a team of world class coaches together with specialist sport scientists, medics, personal development and welfare practitioners. Xu and Neilson-Gatenby are benefitting from that support, with the new champion relishing the best win of her junior career so far.

She said: «I enjoyed every moment of it. »I have been playing well and I'm so happy to come through.

The first set was a good level from me and then Talia raised her game. I am back for the under-16s next week and hopefully I can play well again." Neilson-Gatenby, who also been playing doubles with Xu in this year's 18 and Under Junior National Championships, was quick to congratulate her