A tennis-playing student from Ellesmere College who will have the chance to play British national tour events after recent wins believes anything is possible in future.

Sam Chapman won his Shrewsbury Club Open Regional Tour under-18 final 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday, having also won a similar tournament on October 16, and also finished runner-up in a competition at Birchwood, just outside Warrington.

Sam, 17, from Dudleston Heath, has been playing tennis since he was four, taking it seriously when he was 11, and hopes these successes will be the first step to a professional career. 

“The regional tour happens once a month, and winning it means you can qualify for the national tour,” said Sam, who models himself on world number one Novak Djokovic.

“I’m not sure what will happen now, but it should lead into bigger national tournaments. I get to play after school, and do two or three hours practice a day.

“This is through the school – and I also play in some other squads out of school.

“Winning this at Shrewsbury gets me into bigger tournaments, and there’s then a chance to get into the British nationals.”

Sam is targeting the chance to earn money as a professional, and admitted he was proud of his recent achievements.

He added: “The main goal is to get one world ranking point. Then, if I can do that, that will lead on to bigger stuff for me, like earning money.

“I’m very proud – I only started up again at the beginning of the summer as I stopped playing for a few years. I’m really pleased I started again. Anything is possible for the future.”