Smethurst stays in upbeat mood

FAILSWORTH tennis ace Daniel Smethurst refused to be downbeat after his Wimbledon campaign came to an end.

The 19-year-old crashed out of the men’s doubles at the first qualifying stage with fellow Brit Marcus Willis after fifth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Travis Rettenmaler brushed them aside 7-5, 6-3 at the Bank of England Sports Club in Roehampton.

The defeat came just 24 hours after Smethurst was sent packing in the singles event by Switzerland’s world number 211 Marco Chiudinelli 7-6, 6-4.

But the Oldham star insists he will emerge from his Grand Slam exploits a better player.

“The two guys we were playing were a lot more experienced than us and it showed I think,” he said.

“We played some good tennis and I think we were always in the match but we were a break up in both sets but couldn’t quite make it stick.

“It’s fantastic experience just to be here and playing against top players and I’ve learnt a lot of lessons in a short space of time.”

Now, while the world’s finest players will be showcasing their talents at the All England Club next week, Smethurst will be travelling to Norway to continue his Future’s tour campaign.

But with grasscourt events in Felixstowe and Manchester pencilled in for his return to the UK, the world number 843 insists his season is far from over.

“The good thing about tennis is that the season is never over and there are always opportunities to put right a few wrongs,” he said.

“There have been some top players here this week so it’s up to me to try to learn a bit from them and try and take it into my game.

“The Felixstowe and Manchester events are important to me so it would be nice to finish the season on a high.”


LEADING life assurance and pensions company AEGON is lead partner of British Tennis and is backing the sport at all levels, from grassroots to world class tennis events. For further information visit www.lta.org.uk