Jack up a level after two wins in a week

JACK OLDFIELD could not have had a more successful half-term. The young Sarnian claimed back to back tournament victories as he won UK under-10 events in Taunton and Bristol.

The former started with all competitors playing in a round robin group in which Oldfield dropped only two games in six sets during his three matches.

He then faced Seb Bender of Taunton in the semi-final and had only one game taken off him.

Oldfield's stronger serve and more aggressive groundstrokes proved too much for his opponent, as they did for Dougal Collins-Smith in the final.

Overall, the Guernsey boy played 10 sets during the tournament, winning 40 games and dropping only six.

Oldfield, accompanied by his father, then travelled to the Bristol Junior Championships and made a confident start, beating both Henry Lidgington and Nicholas Swann without dropping a game.

His first test came in the semi-final against Dominic Trevis.

Oldfield won the first set 4-1 and was serving well.

In the second, he made a few more errors trying to play with extra pace and aggression.

However, the outcome was never in doubt and he won it 4-2.

In the final, Oldfield faced Joel Quinn and got off to a good start winning the first set 4-0.

The second proved much closer and was a good test of his mental toughness.

Crucially, he managed to block out the distracting behaviour of his opponent and rose to the challenge with some quality shot making to take the second and final set in a tie-break.

'Jack has now proved that he is more than capable at this level and will now be moving up to the next level when he takes up his place in the Ariel 10-and-Under Winter Indoor Series,' said Jo Robinson, Oldfield's coach.

'The series is classed as a grade three level competition for aspiring juniors.

'Earlier this week he was offered a wild card entry by the LTA to the first of the national indoor series in Glasgow this weekend. With a maximum of 16 players at each of the six venues, there are only 96 players across the country who have qualified from a linked county event to play the series.

'Jack has played more than 40 matches this year, mostly level-four tournaments, and has shown that he enjoys and thrives amongst the better opposition in Jersey and the UK.

'Match experience and personal player development are still more important than match results, especially for a nine-year-old, but Jack has already shown he is learning fast.'

Generali Worldwide have agreed to support Oldfield towards travel costs to the Indoor Series.