DUNNINGTON tennis starlet Jack Batchelor has narrowly missed out on a dream appearance at Wimbledon.

The youngster, a pupil at Fulford School, took part in the HSBC 'Road to Wimbledon' North Regional Qualifier at Ilkley Tennis Club.

Each year over 10,000 youngsters around the country take part in the tournament - designed to inspire the next generation to take tennis from the back garden to the Centre Court.

Regional winners meet at the National Finals at the All England Club in August.

Batchelor, 12, a member of the Nuffield Hull club, said: “It has been a really good experience. The tennis has been of a really good standard. There was a professional tournament taking place next door and it was great to see them and be playing so close to them.

“I love everything about tennis because it is such a good game to play and the experience to play on grass at this tournament has been challenging because it is so different to other surfaces," he added.

“The chance to play at Wimbledon would have been amazing and it would have meant a lot to me because I have watched Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray there before - so it would have been a dream come true to play there myself.”

The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 & Under Challenge, the UK’s largest grass court tournament, forms part of HSBC’s investment in grassroots tennis; an area of the sport the Official Banking Partner of The Championships has been supporting since 2008.