Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Raise Your Game: Tell me about some of your tennis achievements.

Nick Jones: In 2004 I won the British under 12 Championships. That got me a lot of trips to Europe and I did pretty well in those tournaments. In February 2005 I went to Denmark and got to the semi-finals out there. That same week I got to the semi-finals of the under 14s of the British Masters. It's probably one of the best weeks of my tennis career.

RYG: You've just been over to Florida - what were you doing there?

NJ: Playing in a tournament called the Orange Bowl, and a few tournaments round there. In one of the run-up tournaments I got to the quarterfinal and one semi-final, but they were under 16s. In the Orange Bowl I got through the qualifying rounds - there are four rounds of qualifying - and lost first round to a Canadian boy.

RYG: How did you feel you did?

NJ: I was really pleased. I got a lot out of it. It's one of the best trips I've ever had, learning-wise. I learnt how hard you've got to work to be at the top. Everything comes down to hard work in the end.

RYG: What's it like meeting players from around the world?

NJ: Good. I know people from all over now. They're probably players I'm going to be playing against for the next 10 years.

RYG: What are you most proud of?

NJ: Trying as hard as I can every single time, putting in 100% and getting out what you deserve really. If I win it's a bonus, but at this age I'm just trying to work on my game, and working to get to a professional level, to become top 10 in the world and win every grand slam at least once.

RYG: Who do you look up to?

NJ: People like Rafael Nadal who are really strong fighters and never ever give up. People like Roger Federer who can do just everything. You learn so much every time you watch him. If you watch any person in the top 100 you'll learn a lot from them.

You've got to give it to Tim [Henman]. He's worked so hard his whole career. The people in the press now are just nailing him down because Murray's come on the scene and they're changing Henman Hill to Murray Mound, or something, and they're saying that Murray is the new one to watch. I don't think that's right. I still look up to Tim. He's really carried British tennis in the last 10 years.

I'm quite a big Wimbledon fan. I played on Centre Court last year. It was me and three other boys doing an exhibition match for British tennis. We were on Centre Court before the Roger Federer and Nicholas Cooper match on the middle Saturday. That was a brilliant experience for me. It felt like heaven on that court.

RYG: How much training do you do?

NJ: I pretty much play everyday. When I've got free time and I'm not in school I play two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon and do an hour's fitness - so five hours per day. Monday is my day off.

Tuesdays and Thursdays I'll play 4-7pm with an hour's fitness as well. On Wednesdays I'll get up early and play from 6:30-8am and then go to school, and I'll play 4-6pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. If I haven't got a tournament on the weekend I'll train. Whenever there's a tournament I'll try and play as much as I can.

NJ: Any winning tips?

NJ: It's just focusing for as long as I'm playing. Working hard and focusing on what I'm trying to do in the court. Don't focus on any distractions around you, just focus on the court. Imagine it's another training session.

RYG: How important is it to you to have the support of coaches, parents, friends etc?

NJ: Really important as they're the ones giving you encouragement to play the sport. My mum and dad are the ones who got me in to tennis. My dad's a coach, so I was always with him when he was training, so that's what really started me playing and enjoying tennis.

When I was two I started picking up a racket and trying to hit the ball and my mum would feed the ball to me. I started properly hitting the ball and training at five-years-old, and playing tournaments when I was about seven-years-old.

RYG: Any advice for other kids wanting to play?

NJ: Work hard and try to improve your game as quickly as possible. It doesn't matter what level you're trying to get to, that's the bottom line, to work hard.