Ridgewell-based tennis ace Harry Wendelken on winning the British Tour Masters and his goals for 2023
Harry Wendelken is aiming for a ‘fit and healthy’ 2023 as he looks to play a full year of tennis and build on a strong finish to last season.
The 21-year-old, who lives in Ridgewell, six miles from Haverhill, signed off for 2022 by winning the British Tour Masters men’s title just before Christmas.
Wendelken was the top seed for the three-day event, which took place at Loughborough University, and featured some of the strongest emerging talents in Great Britain.
A 6-4, 6-2 victory over the number two seed Joshua Paris in the final handed Wendelken the title and capped off a year which had also seen him win titles on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour and UK Pro League.
“It was good to play the British Tour Masters and finish the year off with a win,” the former Culford School Tennis Academy student said.
“We have the British tours throughout the year and there’s a leaderboard system. I think the top 12 who have done the best in the tours play in the finals.
“I’ve had a pretty good year and winning the British Tour Masters at the end of the year topped it off.
“Winning my first 25K doubles and singles titles was a good achievement for me last year.
“I made a final at the beginning of the year and a semi-final after that and then I got ill.
“I didn’t have a very good six months because I was battling pneumonia, I had Covid again and a chest infection for around two months.
“But I managed to finish the year strong. I won one of the UK Pro League titles, a 25K title, and then I did OK in the UK Pro League finals (finishing sixth) as well, so I was happy with that.”
The former Horseheath resident, who reached the semi-finals of the Boys’ Doubles on his Wimbledon debut back in 2018, started 2022 ranked 1,025th, but is now ranked 534th on the current ATP rankings at the beginning of a year that he hopes will be a busy one on the court.
Wendelken is on the list of entries for upcoming M25 events in Loughborough (January 9-15) and Sheffield (January 16-22) over the next fortnight, with his main goal a return to SW19 in the summer.
“Hopefully I can stay fit and healthy and play a whole year,” he said. “That’s the main goal.
“I’m in a good place at the moment with my ranking being the highest it’s ever been by some way.
“I’ll be playing in the Futures in the beginning of the year. There’s four in England coming up in January and February, so I’ll play in those.
“If I do well I can get my ranking up and start entering the Challengers and see where I go from there. Hopefully I can aim for the Wimbledon qualifiers as well.”
