Henry Searle climbs to career-high ranking after first final
Wolverhampton tennis starlet Henry Searle is on the verge of breaking into the world's top 400 tennis players.
The 18-year-old - who won the Wimbledon boys' singles title in 2023 - climbed to 401 when Monday's world rankings were announced, having reached his first final on the second-tier Challenger Tour in Nottingham.
His superb run came to an end at the hand of 27-year-old Norwegian Viktor Durasovic, who himself rose more than 127 places into the top 300.
Speaking following the final, Durasovic said: “I was happy to pull through. Henry has had a good week… and was really serving well, so it was nice to pull through in the end.”
Searle - a wildcard in Nottingham - began his week with a 7-6, 7-5 victory over Belgian seventh seed Michael Geerts and followed that up with another straight-sets success - 7-6, 6-2 - over Dimitar Kuzmanov.
He then dispatched Lukas Pokorny 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals, before showing real grit and determination to edge out Mika Brunold in a final-set tie-break, prevailing 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 after recovering from the disappointment of failing to convert a match point in the second set.
LTA tournament director Luke Gallen added: “It was fantastic to see Henry in his first Challenger final and to have a strong crowd on finals day supporting all the singles and doubles players.”
