Wolverhampton’s Henry Searle at home back on the grass

The rising Wolverhampton ace – who won the boys’ singles at Wimbledon a year ago – overcame two higher-ranked players to book his spot in the main draw of the Challenger level event. He first beat Austria’s world No.154 Jurij Rodionov – who lost to Andy Murray in the final of the Surbiton Trophy last year – before following that up against Australia’s world No.347 Luke Saville.

And with both victories being in straight sets, Searle quickly proved he is delighted to be back on the grass this summer, 12 months on from his memorable triumph at SW19. He ended a 61-year wait for British success in the boys’ singles with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russian fifth seed Yaroslav Demin on Court One.

And since then the 18-year-old has steadily risen through the ranks to a career high of 630 – a position he is set to improve further this week after qualifying in Nottingham.