Carpenter aims to be a cut above the rest (From Surrey Comet)

Carpenter aims to be a cut above the rest

9:32am Tuesday 29th December 2009 in

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Cheam’s Jack Carpenter has been in great form for the past few weeks, competing in two of the most prestigious junior tennis tournaments in the world - the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis tournament and the Orange Bowl, both in Florida, USA.

The talented youngster suffered a loss in the semi final stage of the 18 & Under boys singles at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis tournament.

Carpenter had been in commanding form throughout the tournament, taking three straight set victories in a row, one of which against the number one seed in the tournament, before taking a strong win against the fifth seed in the quarter finals.

This tough match was followed by another, with Carpenter facing the third seed in the tournament, Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. Despite a strong performance on court, Carpenter lost against this strong competitor in the semi finals with the score of 6-3 6-2.

Carpenter commented on his performance throughout the tournament; “I was pleased with my results, I beat some good players ranked highly which gave me a lot of confidence. I played well which I was happy with as I’ve put in a lot of hard work over the last few months.

“I was very pleased to beat the number one seed obviously but the quarter final was my best win for me personally as I was a set and 5-1 down against a good player.

“I’ve had good results here in the past and made the finals last year in the 16 & Unders. My ranking number meant that I wasn’t expected to do as well but I knew that if I played well I could get as far as the semi’s and that was my goal for this tournament so I was happy to achieve it.”

The prestigious Eddie Herr International Junior Tournament has served as a springboard to the professional tennis tour for such names as Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian.

Carpenter is already on the path to similar success as he is part of the AEGON FutureStars programme, meaning he has been recognised as one of the best juniors in the country for his age group.

Carpenter commented on his experience of playing at the famous Eddie Herr Tournament; “It means a lot to play there, I have played well at the tournament before and I get the chance to play against some of the best players in the world, which is always good.

“It’s not the one that everyone looks at as the biggest tournament, as there is obviously Junior Wimbledon, but this was the biggest one for me this year and it’s always good to play well at a high standard tournament.”

Carpenter’s impressive showing at the Eddie Herr was mirrored by his performance at the Orange Bowl, the unofficial junior world championship, in which he got through to the last 16, setting him up well for a tournament packed 2010.

He said; “My aim for 2010 is to try and do well at the Junior Grand Slams and try and improve on my ATP ranking by winning matches at a top level, the year starts with a tournament in January and then the Australian Open which will be quality!”