June 19, 2013 at 2:43 p.m.
Plucky Selassie falls short of Wimbledon finals
The young Bermudian, 13, has made impressive progress in the top group at the Nottingham Tennis Centre Performance Academy.
It saw him make the regional finals at the weekend where he went up against some higher ranked — and physically bigger — boys.
Selassie lost his first game 6-2, 6-2 before losing a controversial rematch with the opponent he beat at the club finals stage at West Bridgford Tennis Academy.
The islander, who moved to the UK with his family a year ago, was defeated in a tie-breaker 6-4, 2-6 (10-4) in a game marred by disagreements over line calls. It meant Selassie came fourth and while he admitted he was disappointed with the result, the youngster vowed to work hard to improve his game.
He told the Bermuda Sun: “It was quite hard trying to control my emotions, but in the second set I got back to normal.
“But as I started losing in the tie-breaker, I got frustrated, and lost focus. It’s a bit disappointing to come fourth, but when you actually think about it, I’ve done really well to even earn my spot here.”
He added: “Throughout the year I hope to improve my game to the next level to earn a better result for Road to Wimbledon in 2014.
“I just want to say thank you to all the people in Bermuda and England who have been congratulating me and motivating me to do my best.”
Selassie has four more tournaments in the coming month before returning to Bermuda.
In August he will be training with Bermuda’s Temple of Tennis as they prepare for their summer tour of New York, where he and the other young players will have the chance to visit the Arthur Ashe Fun Day at the US Open as well as getting the opportunity to watch the opening round of the Grand Slam.
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