Teenager Henry Searle becomes first Brit to win Wimbledon boys’ singles title in more than 60 years | UK News
Henry Searle has become the first British boys’ singles champion at Wimbledon since 1962.
The 17-year-old, from Wolverhampton, beat fifth seed Yaroslav Demin 6-4, 6-4 on Court One at the tournament on Sunday.
His win emulated Stanley Matthews, son of the famous Blackpool footballer of the same name, who triumphed 61 years ago.
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Searle is this country’s first junior champion since Laura Robson won the girls’ event in 2008.
Henry Searle (R) with the winners trophy and opponent Yaroslav Demin
He has ensured more home success at this year’s tournament after Brit Neal Skupski – ranked number one doubles player in the world – won the men’s doubles with Dutch player Wesley Koolhof, on Centre Court on Saturday.
“It is amazing to play on Court One with such a special crowd and manage to get the job done,” Searle said on court.
“It’s a pretty special feeling and it is not going to come too often and I am going to try and enjoy it. It was amazing in front of this crowd today.”
Meanwhile, on Centre Court, Prince George and Princess Charlotte joined their parents the Prince and Princess of Wales in the Royal Box for the men’s singles final.
Wearing a blue dress, the eight-year-old royal held Kate’s hand and petted a police dog before taking her seat to watch the match between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
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Royals at Wimbledon for men’s final
Speaking to Ella Ottaway, who runs the All England Club’s young people programme, Kate said that the youngest of the Wales’, Prince Louis, was “very upset” that he was not attending.
“It’s Charlotte’s first time, George came last year. They’ve been eagerly watching,” she said.
“Charlotte, you’ve been getting to grips with the scoring. Louis was very upset he wasn’t coming today.”