'Feels amazing' - Benjamin Gusic-Wan relishing Junior Wimbledon return after National Championships triumph
BySportsbeat
Published 07/04/2023 at 15:38 GMT
Benjamin Gusic-Wan battled past Oliver Bonding in the Under-16 Boys' Singles final at the LTA Junior National Championships to book a place at Junior Wimbledon. The youngster says he has 'grown a bit more and matured' since his maiden appearance at the All England Club last year. Gusic-Wan beat Surrey's Oliver Bonding 7-6(2) 6-7(2) 6-3 at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
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Kent's Benjamin Gusic-Wan is relishing the chance to play at Junior Wimbledon this summer after he beat Oliver Bonding in a high-quality Under-16 Boys' Singles final at the LTA Junior National Championships.
Gusic-Wan, who is supported by the LTA's 16 and under NAGP programme, beat Surrey's Bonding 7-6(2) 6-7(2) 6-3 in a match played at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
Gusic-Wan will now be awarded a place in the Junior Wimbledon tournament this summer and he is hoping his experiences playing at the All England Club last year will stand him in good stead when he returns in July.
"It feels amazing to be standing here with the trophy as the Junior National champion," said Gusic-Wan, who trains at Canterbury Tennis Club under the watch of coach Simon Grieve.
"I wasn't really expecting to beat Olly and I had to be on it from the start. Then when I missed chances in the second set and lost the tie-break, I needed to get back on track and I played well in the third set. When Olly returns hard, I needed to absorb the pace and I feel I did that well.
"Now I will get another chance to play at Junior Wimbledon and hopefully I can make progress in the tournament this year.
"I played in Junior Wimbledon last year, but I have grown a bit more and matured since then, so let's go out there and see what we can do."
Both players in the Under-16 Boys' Final are supported by the LTA's 16 and under NAGP programme and Martin Weston, National Coach of the LTA's Men's Team, believes British tennis has two exciting prospects in Gusic-Wan and Bonding.
"For under-16 tennis, I felt the level in this final was extremely high," said Weston. "Both competed so well and didn't have too many emotional ups and downs. They were present for the whole match.
"They are both very, very talented and really tough competitors. Hopefully, they will continue to push each other along now.
"This always felt like a 50-50 match and it proved to be that way when you see how close it was.
"If any country had that as their Boys' under-16 Final they would be very optimistic about the talent coming through the ranks."
Wimbledon-based Bonding, who is at No.40 in the current ITF Junior rankings, will be awarded a wildcard into the Junior Wimbledon tournament after finishing as runner-up, but his ITF ranking is likely to ensure he qualifies for the main draw at the All England Club.
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