Exeter player wins National Tennis Championships

Louis Skupien (aged 10) has

won the 10U Winter National Tennis Championships which took place last weekend

in Cambridge. 

In a difficult draw Louis,

beat the number one seed in the semis before defeating the number two seed,

Yorkshire's Barney Fitzpatrick, in the final. 

The matches were hard

fought with Louis emerging triumphant to win the prestigious title. The final

saw both players displaying some hard hitting high quality tennis, finishing

with a nail biting Championship tie-break.

Performance coach Charlotte

Wallace said "This is a great achievement for Louis and shows that all his hard

work and dedication is paying off. Exeter Tennis Centre is really pushing

forward with the level of performance players which is great for Devon and the

South West."

Louis, who sailed through

the regional qualifiers in Exeter without dropping a single game to earn his

place in the final, said "The competition was absolutely awesome. It was a very

tough tournament and I have worked incredibly hard, but the result at the end

was worth it. I am really grateful to my Dad, my coach Dominic Stones and Beef

[Alan Pope] my fitness coach for helping me."

As a local from Ilminster,

Louis trains full time at Exeter Tennis Centre receiving dedicated support in a

package that includes one to one coaching sessions, squad coaching and hitting

sessions. He also enjoys hitting with some of the university's student players

as part of his intense programme. His favourite sessions are with his strength

and conditioning coach Alan Pope. 

Louis is very lucky to have

just recently been awarded a sponsorship contract from Prince Tennis as well as

equipment from Boost Oxygen which helps him train and play.  He is also

part of the Aegon sponsored Future Stars Programme and regularly attends

National Camps and Talent ID's in London.

Looking to the future Louis

is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his favourite players Novak Djokovic

and Milos Raonic, saying "I like Djokovic because of the way he plays and his

attitude, I would also love to have a serve like Raonic, which is incredible.

My aim is to be number one in the world, but to be in the top 100 would also be

a fantastic achievement."

Louis is looking to compete

on an international level this year. He plans to start entering European Tennis

Association (ETA) events to gain experience on different surfaces and face new

players from the continent.