Henry Searle became the first British boys’ singles champion at Wimbledon since 1962 on Sunday.
The 17-year-old from Wolverhampton emulated Stanley Matthews, the son of the famous footballer, ending a 61-year wait for British success in the Wimbledon boys’ singles.
Following his final against Yaroslav Demin, Searle told reporters he first got into sport because he was “a little bit of a nightmare at home”.
He joined Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club when he was just two-and-a-half years old, general manager Marc Hughes told the PA news agency.
The young star still helps out with the junior performance programme at the club and was hitting with the youngsters two weeks before his Wimbledon win.
Searle, who is now six foot four, watched Andy Murray win his first Wimbledon title there when he was seven years old.
The club are big fans of Searle and hosted a “rammed” screening of his final match.
Following the game, the big-serving tennis player told reporters he had a big growth spurt in lockdown and once he got used to his longer limbs his serve has become a key part of his game.
Searle’s mother was a swimmer and he joked with reporters “maybe that’s where the shoulder speed comes from with the serve”.
Searle was “one of the best under-12s in Europe, got to the final of Auray, one of the big under-12 events”, according to LTA national coach Martin Weston.
The young player is also a huge Wolverhampton Wanderers fan and tries to get to as many games as possible when he is at home.
After reaching the final Searle got a special message from the club’s manager Julen Lopetegui.
The Spaniard said in a video message to the tennis player that he hoped “the strength of the Wolves will be with you”.
Searle trains at the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) 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.
He is currently doing his A-Levels in psychology and history at Loughborough Amherst School, according to the LTA.
Searle cites Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz as his tennis heroes.
