Big moment for Murphy (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Big moment for Murphy

10:24am Friday 8th April 2011 in Tennis News

Tooting’s junior tennis player Brandon Murphy was put through his paces today after taking part in the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) national Talent ID Finals at the National Tennis Centre, Roehampton.

The ten-year-old, who has recently been selected for the LTA’s AEGON FutureStars programme, was one of 100 youngsters from across the South invited to the session at the National Tennis Centre after successfully progressing through county and regional Talent ID days to make the final week.

Brandon showed off his skills in front of the LTA Talent ID team who were aiming to spot future performance players, who even at such an early age were displaying the right attributes that could enable them to make a real impact on the game.

The Links Primary School pupil, said: “I always like to put myself through challenges and tests to see how I’m doing so I was excited about coming back for a national ID day. I always try to get good results in the fitness and match play to improve my game.”

The day was overseen by LTA Head of Talent Management, Andrew Lewandowski, who was impressed by what he saw: “Brandon has performed really well and shown lots of ability across a number of different tasks testing qualities including athletic ability, coordination, speed and agility and a real natural talent and love for the sport.

“It was fantastic to see so many enthusiastic and talented players give it their all at the Talent ID Finals which is central to our vision for British Tennis.

“With the level of LTA support available for junior players and the Talent ID network that simply didn’t exist five years ago, there has never been a better time for the LTA to identify and help develop talented players.”