By David Bates, Sportsbeat

DURSLEY tennis starlet Joseph McCoubrie insisted he could still hold his head up high despite falling just short of a dream outing at Wimbledon.

As the likes of British No.1 Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams prepare for this month’s Wimbledon assault, McCoubrie had the chance to book himself a spot at the world-famous venue as this weekend he competed in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon South West Regional Qualifier at East Glos Club in Cheltenham.

The 13-year-old Kings Gloucester pupil was playing for a spot at August’s National Finals of the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 & Under Challenge at the All England Club, looking to walk away as overall champion of the tournament.

But, despite falling short of a memorable outing at the famous SW19 courts this time around, East Glos Club’s McCoubrie is adamant we haven’t seen the last of him after losing out to Oliver Fernandez 6-2 6-0 in the opening round.

“I played quite well, my opponent was very difficult, I just made too many mistakes and I wasn’t really focussed on the points and didn’t really think about what I should have been doing,” he said.

“I was pleased with how I played, just the points strategy wasn’t good enough for the player. He used lots of top-spin, so he was quite hard to attack.

“Defending wise, he was really good and he made lots of balls. It was difficult to put the ball away against him.

“I definitely aspire to play Wimbledon, but I also want to go to Bath University to train there, or Loughborough, because they are both good for sport – do a range, but focus on my tennis.”

“It was a great experience to play against some people who are around the same rating as me and have a difficult match – hopefully I can perform better in the future and try and learn from my mistakes today, what I did wrong and how I can improve my game.”

The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 & Under Challenge, the UK’s largest grass court tournament, forms part of HSBC’s investment in grassroots tennis; an area of the sport the Official Banking Partner of The Championships has been supporting since 2008 Each year over 10,000 youngsters take part in the series of national tennis tournaments, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars to take their tennis careers from the back garden to Centre Court.

Also in action was fellow Dursley player Luke Fullard who was beaten by Ouyoung Dinapala 6-2 6-4 in the opening round while Painswick’s Isabella Nunez reached the second round where she was halted in her tracks by Grace Piper 7-5 6-2.

Although after watching the action for herself at the South East regional qualifier, HSBC ambassador and former Scottish international tennis player Judy Murray was impressed with what she saw from the crop of 2016.

“The HSBC Road to Wimbledon is a wonderful grassroots programme which more than 10,000 youngsters take part in each year and culminates in the chance to play at Wimbledon, which is every young tennis players’ dream and inspires them every year,” Murray said.

“This programme is a very big part of the British tennis calendar and youngsters recognise the HSBC Road to Wimbledon as a tournament that offers a prize to play at Wimbledon. This prize is a real incentive to enter and do their very best to make it to the final stage.

“Going along and receiving coaching on how to hit the ball properly is one thing but competitive opportunities at a young age need to be fun and stimulating because you want them to enjoy the sport and keep coming back. In my opinion it doesn’t get more stimulating than the ultimate prize of being able to play at Wimbledon.

“Wimbledon is one of those places that is on most people’s bucket list or it is their dream to go there but for most people they are only able to see it on the television so the HSBC Road to Wimbledon is creating a wonderful opportunity for kids across the country.”

HSBC is the Official Banking Partner of The Championships and is committed to supporting grassroots tennis, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars to take their tennis careers from the back garden to Centre Court through the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 & Under Challenge. @HSBC_sport