A Bowdon teenager is the UK’s number one tennis player for his age group after triumphing in a tournament in Lithuania.
St Ambrose College pupil Peter Alam has taken the top spot for boys born in 2002 after winning both the single and doubles events at the pan-European tournament, which saw him compete against 64 of the Continent’s finest under-14 players.
Peter plays his tennis at the Bolton Arena Tennis Academy under top coach Stephen Fathers and trains for at least 15 hours a week, combining work on the court with physical fitness. He is already on an athlete’s diet and hopes one day to join the professional circuit.
He said: “I like to get to the net as often as possible in rallies and dominate. I have a big forehand and consider that to be quite a weapon, but there’s a long long way to go before I can compete against my heroes such as Federer and Nadal.”
The next big event in the Tennis First series is at Peter’s home courts in Bolton and he is looking forward to the challenge. “It’s a real opportunity for me to cement my position in the ranking,” he said.
Peter began playing tennis with his mum and dad, Tanya and Faouzi, at the David Lloyd Centre in Warrington when he was just six.
St Ambrose College headmaster, James Keulemans, added: “Peter has a rare talent and one which needs to be supported at this early age.”
