A LOCAL girl has been crowned the Lawn Tennis Association’s [LTA] Junior Player of the year.

Matilda Mutavdzic, age 17, from Oxford, reached the third round of the junior singles at Wimbledon last week, after a year of playing on the junior tennis circuit which has taken her all over the world.

This year the young tennis pro proved her talent - Miss Mutavdzic won the ITF Pro title in Spain, resulting in a $15,000 award, reached the third round at the Junior Roland Garros and reached the quarter-final at the Orange Bowl, in Florida.

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The young player said: “These are all meaningful achievements, and I would definitely classify them as the highlights of my 2020 tennis year, along achieving straight A+ on all of my A level mock exams – which I'm hoping to finish a year early.

“My goal is to work towards transitioning into women's game at a pro level and developing my game.

“However, as I have two years left in junior circuit, I will give my utmost to win Junior Grand Slam titles.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to the LTA for their continuous support and mentoring on this challenging but exciting journey.”

The young player is now ranked number 20 in her category.

LTA Awards nominations were drawn from over 25,000 volunteers, nearly 5,000 coaches and 1,000 officials, 22,000 schools, nearly 3,000 clubs and over 9,000 LTA approved tournaments.

Miss Mutavdzic was one of 16 national winners recognised at the award ceremony last month, which honoured tennis players from grassroot clubs, county, regional or national levels.

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David Rawlinson, LTA President, said: “The LTA Tennis Awards are a real celebration of the people that make our sport thrive.

“They celebrate the achievements made by outstanding volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players, who are all vital in helping us to grow the game.

“The past year has been challenging for everyone, but to see the tremendous positive contributions the nominees have made to the sport and to their communities has been tremendously uplifting.”

The LTA Tennis Awards are now in their sixth year and celebrate the achievements and contributions of outstanding tennis volunteers, coaches, officials, venues and players across the country.

The rising star is not the first tennis legend to have grown up in Oxfordshire.

Retired professional tennis player Tim Henman, who on 15 ATP titles, was born in Aston Tirrold.