The Road to Wimbledon Isle of Man county tennis finals took place at Douglas Lawn Tennis Club 10 days ago.

This competition is for 14-and-under girls and boys, with the winners getting the opportunity to go play in the national finals at the All England Club (Wimbledon) in August, with the runner-up also offered a coaching opportunity with Tim Henman at Wimbledon.

With competition starting at 9.30am and 23 matches being played across the two events, it was a long day for players, spectators and officials.

As expected, Charlotte Clarke proved too strong for all the other players in the girls’ competition. Runner-up was Sarah Long who defeated 2017 runner-up Aalish Kelly in the semi-final.

Roch Mirski played Jayden Go in the boys’ final, the same line-up as last year, and Roch again prevailed to win the event.

With Charlotte and Roch unlikely to be eligible in 2019 it should be expected that this wonderful opportunity to play at Wimbledon will be open to new winners.PAUL JARVIS