A TEENAGER is aiming to continue to blast his way up the wheelchair tennis world rankings after a meteoric rise in the sport.

Andrew Penney started playing only three years ago following a severe reaction to what should have been a routine operation.

He found tennis was a way to get his life back on track – and despite the limitations imposed by lockdowns, he has surged to a worldwide global ranking of 157 in the men’s game, and is the seventh-best junior.

In Great Britain, he is the sixth-best adult player and third-best junior.

Andrew, from West Tisted, has just returned from ten days of international action in Bolton, where he won five titles.

It was his first men’s international event and his first junior event win.

Andrew suffered severe memory loss after his toe operation in 2019 and admits: “I don’t really remember when I first started, but I can remember my first tournament early in 2019.

“I had improved a lot by the time we played an event in Shrewsbury at the back end of that year.

“Lockdown gave me the opportunity to really push on. As I was getting better mentally, suddenly the pandemic arrived and we were not allowed to get out – so I tried to make the most of it and train harder.

“Before 2021 I was ranked in the top 35 worldwide – by the end of 2021 I was about 12.

“Most of the people I am up against have been playing for between four and seven years. Considering I have been playing for only three years, that’s a significant difference.

“The Bolton event was my first junior win and the first time I had won a men’s event too.

“I was, on paper going by the national rankings and previous results, probably expected to win, but it was never going to be easy. I just wanted to try to do my best in each tournament.

“It was tough – one of the matches lasted four hours.”

Andrew now wants to continue to push up the world rankings – although knows it will be tough.

“Hopefully in the next couple of years I can push on and challenge the best players,” he said.

“The player ranked the fourth best junior in the world is catchable – it’s something I can push for this year. I’m 17 now so this is my last year in the juniors, so next year I want to push up the men’s rankings.

“By the end of this year I’d hope to be in the top 80 in the men’s rankings, and in the top 50 within a couple of years. That’s a reasonable target but we will see.

“We need to work out which tournaments to play in – we could be in three every month but that’s really expensive. Chairs are not cheap – the next one I need will cost around £8,500 and a set of wheels is £750 – more than a car!”

Mum Linda said: “For every tournament, three or four racquets need to be restrung – that’s £100. Tournaments cost £500 to £750.

“The next tournament is in Holland and after that Andrew is hoping to play in Houston – he’ll have to go on his own as I can’t afford to fly with him. Then it’s Belgium.

“It’s not just the cost of entry and travel, it’s balls and racquets, stringing, new tyres... I work for the NHS and there’s only so much I can do. It’s not a cheap sport.

“He has only four hours’ training a week – we just can’t afford any more official lesson time. Playing tennis is a considerable expense even when we try do it in the cheapest way possible.

“But he gets so much out of it – I’ve seen the determination he had to achieve and that’s so different to the child of three years ago who didn’t even know my name. He has come so far.

“It’s now about enabling him to achieve his goals and dreams. He has got the grit and determination to do that. And if anyone wanted to help us, that would be amazing.”