Young Welsh tennis stars are making giant strides globally

Two Welsh youth tennis stars are making giant strides on the international stage.

Mimi Xu, 15, and Viktor Frydrych, 17, dominated the court in both the singles and doubles competitions at the Beijing ITF J300 U18’s tournament last weekend, with both players taking home titles.

Mimi Xu faced players from China, Denmark, and Great Britain before overcoming top seed Laura Samsonova 6-2, 6-4, to capture the U18’s girl’s title.

Teaming up with her GB partner Mika Stojsavljevic, Mimi Xu, who is thriving under Emma Raducanu’s former Welsh coach Matt James, also won the U18 girl’s doubles title against Hao Liang and Ruien Zhang of China.

Meanwhile, Viktor Frydrych overcame matches against opposition from Switzerland, Italy, China and Russia on his route to capturing the U18 Boys singles title. Frydrych defeated fellow GB player and number 8 seed Benjamin Gusic Wan in the final.

Following their incredible achievements, Mimi Xu is now ranked as the no.14 girl’s player in the ITF World Junior Rankings, whilst Viktor currently stands at no.56 in the boys rankings.

Osaka

Both players will be competing in the ITF J500 event in Osaka, Japan, this week.

Ahead of their upcoming tournament, Chris Lewis, Head of Performance at Tennis Wales said: “We would like to wish many congratulations to both Mimi and Viktor. Their successes both on and off the court continue to inspire young players in Wales, the wider UK, and beyond.

He added: “From Mimi’s beginnings at Swansea Tennis Centre, to Viktor’s first sessions at Colwyn Bay, we knew they had potential — and here they are championing Welsh tennis across the globe.

“We couldn’t be prouder to see them flying the flag for Wales and wish them all the best for their upcoming matches. Pob lwc in Osaka!”