A budding tennis player, who trains at Birchwood Tennis Centre, is supporting some of the world’s top ranked players on court this week including the number one and two seeds, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.
Rhona Cook, who is Cheshire’s under 18 county champion, has come face-to-face with her heroes at the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals where she’s part of the ball crew.
The 14 year-old is one of only 30 children nationwide selected to be part of the final crew at the O2 Arena in London this week after taking part in the trials with hundreds of other youngsters.
All this week she’ll act as a ball girl for the top eight ranked singles and doubles players in the world.
She appeared on court with Andy Murray yesterday as he won the longest three-set match in the tournament’s history against Japan’s Kei Nishikoir.
Rhona also shared the court with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the quarter finals on Tuesday as he saw off big-serving Milos Raonic to reach the semi-finals.
Rhona, who is supported by LiveWire’s talented athlete programme, earned her place as a ball girl following her success as part of the Cheshire 14 and under girls team.
Earlier this year she was part of the team that beat Nottinghamshire in the finals of the Aegon County Cup competition. The Cheshire girls fought off strong competition to win the national title for the first time at Nottingham Tennis Centre back in May.
This week, the girls were awarded Team of the Year by Cheshire LTA at their annual awards evening.
Rhona, said: “Walking onto court with the incredible atmosphere was amazing!”
The junior tennis player signed up to LiveWire’s talented athlete programme last year. She has been given a free membership and support and guidance to improve her performance as part of the scheme.
