‘Dream’ Wimbledon wildcard chance offered to 14-year-old Brit

Teenage tennis sensation Mimi Xu has been given a wildcard into the qualifying competition for Wimbledon after winning the LTA Under-18 Junior National Championships this week.

Xu, who was born in Wales, secured her place in the preliminary rounds of her first Grand Slam by defeating fellow Loughborough Academy player Talia Neilson-Gatenby at the LTA training facility in South West London.

The 14-year-old won the the under-16 Doubles event at last year’s British Junior National Championships and as a result was selected to compete in SW19’s prestigious Junior Championships this year. However, she will now be aiming to make the step up to the women’s game in June.

Following her win at the under-18 National Championships, she spoke of her excitement on the prospect of reaching the main draw at Wimbledon and playing alongside big names such as Emma Raducanu and Iga Swiatek at the All England Club.

“Playing in the Grand Slam events is what we all dream about and I can’t wait to play the Wimbledon qualifying now,” she said.

“I have been playing well and I’m so happy to come through. I am back for the under-16s next week and hopefully I can play well again.”

Mimi Xu will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Emma Raducanu and Nick Kyrgios by kick-starting her career with an impressive display at the oldest tennis tournament in the world. If she is to reach the main draw, she will become the youngest ever player to do so at Wimbledon, breaking Coco Gauff’s record from 2019 when she won her final qualifying match aged 15 years and 122 days in 2019.

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