Homeschooling, training and travel: the wonderful life of a child’s tennis

Wimbledon is in full swing and all eyes are on the British players – but what does it take to reach the top of the sport?

Hunter Henderson is one of those hoping to make a career in tennis – and the 10-year-old is making sacrifices to get there.

Hunter, whose father is former Sheffield United striker Darius Henderson, has played tennis since the age of three and is at Doncaster Lawn Tennis Club.

He and his younger sister Halo, a keen player, are home-schooled to fit around their training schedules and travel to Leeds and Sheffield for advanced coaching sessions on indoor courts.

Hunter’s hard work paid off as he won the Smrikva Bowl Junior Tournament in Croatia, where Carlos Alcaraz is a past finalist.

After accepting the title, the youngster described himself as “feeling part of British tennis history”.

Darius, who was a youth coach at hometown club Doncaster Rovers and later made 72 appearances for the Blades, said his son was fully committed to training five days a week.

“At first he took it to the local tennis club, to see how it was played, and he really liked it and he was driving it himself now.

“Hunter and Halo have one thing in common and sometimes it gets very competitive in the house.”

Doncaster has no indoor courts, meaning the family regularly travel to tennis centers elsewhere in Yorkshire.

“You only get seven days a week and you have to choose and that was his decision.

He understood early on that if he wanted to win more tennis matches, he had to play more tennis.