MONMOUTH tennis starlet Theodore Purkis insists he can still hold his head up high despite falling just short of a dream outing at Wimbledon.

As the likes of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams prepare for next month’s Wimbledon assault, Purkis had the chance to book himself a spot at the world-famous venue as this weekend he competed in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon South West Regional Qualifier at East Glos Club in Cheltenham.

The 11-year-old was playing for a spot at August’s National Finals of the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 and Under Challenge at the All England Club, looking to walk away as overall champion of the tournament.

But, despite falling short of a memorable outing at the famous SW19 courts this time around, Oxstalls Tennis Club’s Purkis is adamant we haven’t seen the last of him after losing out to Daniel Prickett 7-5 6-4 in the second round.

“Even though I lost eventually, I had a cracking day and beat a seed three years older than me in the first round, so I am very happy,” he said.

“It wasn’t intimidating playing the second seed, I said to myself: I have got nothing to lose, nobody is going to be shocked if I lose.

“He had the pressure on him, so I didn’t find him intimidating. I knew that he was feeling that and from the word go he started missing.

“He was probably nervous about playing an 11-year-old when he is 14 and nearly moving up an age-group.

“It would be phenomenal to get to Wimbledon, a dream. I like Murray, but Djokovic’s movement is amazing. We call him stretchy man.

“My dream is to win Wimbledon.”

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.

Each year over 10,000 youngsters take part in the series of national tennis tournaments, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars to take their tennis careers from the back garden to Centre Court.