YOUNG Basingstoke tennis ace Dean Cooper-Kirby maintained his winning run at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight County Championships in Winchester.
The 11-year-old won the under-12 title after a titanic final to claim his fourth county title, having won the under-eight, nine and 10 competitions in previous years, becoming one of very few players to archive this.
The final proved to be a real battle as Cooper-Kirby, who was seeded third, came up against top-seed Alex Ellison.
The Basingstoke player was the first to break serve to take a 3-2 lead, but he was broken straight back.
With the score at 5-4, Ellison served to stay in the first set and was unable to as Cooper-Kirby broke serve again.
The second set saw the Basingstoke youngster come out flying, winning the first three games on his way to 5-1 lead.
His higher-ranked opponent looked set for defeat, but produced a great comeback to tie things up at five games each.
Cooper-Kirby held his nerve and won the next game, before Ellison saved two match points to keep the final alive and send the set into a tie-break.
The Basingstoke player once again took control, leading 5-1 before winning the tie-break 6-3 to clinch the title.
To reach the final, Cooper-Kirby beat Nishant Talpallikar (4-1, 4-0) in round two and in the last eight he faced Portsmouth Tennis Academy club-mate Aaron Dawson.
The first set was decided by a tie-break, but the Basingstoke player breezed through the second set to reach the semi-finals.
There he faced number two seed George Russell and in a close game he came out on top, winning 6-3, 6-3 to book his place in the final.
Cooper-Kirby also teamed with Russell to win the under-12 doubles title.
The 11-year-old’s victory qualified him for a national tournament, the Babolat Cup, which takes place in Birmingham this weekend, where tickets to the French Open are up for grabs.
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