{"id":195733,"date":"2025-06-19T00:14:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T00:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/195733\/"},"modified":"2025-06-19T00:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T00:14:15","slug":"rising-british-star-17-who-sat-a-level-exam-in-tennis-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/195733\/","title":{"rendered":"rising British star, 17, who sat A-level exam in tennis kit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mimi Xu was sitting an A-level biology paper on Wednesday when the news broke that she had been given a wild card into her first Wimbledon main draw.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old from Swansea, who reached the junior girls\u2019 doubles final at Wimbledon last year with Mika Stojsavljevic, another wild card recipient, will fulfil an ambition she had been chasing since she first entered the qualifiers as a 14-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor any player to play at Wimbledon is just a dream. When I get there I think it\u2019s going to feel absolutely amazing,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I am feeling good about myself and believing in myself I feel like I\u2019ve a good chance against anyone. I\u2019m really confident in my game at the moment.\u201d <\/p>\n

Xu has taken two top-100 scalps in the past fortnight, knocking the top seed Alycia Parks out of the Birmingham Classic with a 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) win and following it up with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Katie Volynets at the Nottingham Open.<\/p>\n

Her academic commitments meant preparations for Thursday\u2019s second-round match against the world No31 Magda Linette were interrupted by a trip to Nottingham High School to sit her last biology paper. <\/p>\n

\u201cI stand out a bit because I\u2019m in full sports kit,\u201d she laughed. Tuesday evening, when she might have been pondering the possibility of a Wimbledon wild card, had been spent revising instead.<\/p>\n

\"Mimi<\/p>\n

Xu said she manages to balance her studies and burgeoning professional career<\/p>\n

NATHAN STIRK\/GETTY IMAGES FOR LTA<\/p>\n

The balance between tennis and her academic commitments is a delicate one, but she is comfortable with the juggling act.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve been able to fit it all in quite well,\u201d she said. \u201cI did my maths last year and I have economics to sit next year. I have limited tournaments because of my age which has helped with fitting everything in. If I have tournaments and get behind it\u2019s not the end of the world because I\u2019ve been able to catch up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all fairness I enjoy studying. It might sound a bit weird but I feel like studying is a bit of a hobby of mine. I really enjoy learning new things. I think a part of me after these exams is going to be thinking, \u2018What shall I do with my free time?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Xu, whose Chinese parents Tony and Wendy met at Swansea University and settled in the city, first swung a racket aged three at Swansea Tennis and Squash Club.<\/p>\n

\"Mika<\/p>\n

Stojsavljevic, Xi\u2019s doubles partner at last year\u2019s Wimbledon junior\u2019s tournament, has also been handed a singles wild card for this year\u2019s draw<\/p>\n

MIKE EGERTON\/PA<\/p>\n

\u201cMy neighbours were the ones who actually got me into tennis as my parents hadn\u2019t had anything to do with it before, but they got me in, and I started going for half an hour each week,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I was seven, I won the Welsh Championships for under-eights and that\u2019s when I properly started thinking, \u2018I want to do this now.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Having gone through the LTA National Academy in Loughborough and reached the semi-final of the junior girls singles at the US Open last year \u2014 as well as No8 in the junior world rankings \u2014 she transitioned to the senior ranks. She is now supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme under the guidance of Nigel Sears and Katie O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a great team behind me \u2014 a lot of the LTA staff supporting me behind the scenes. I couldn\u2019t be more grateful to them for helping me do this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ranked No350 in the world, her victory over the aptly named Volynets \u2014 the world No96 \u2014 at the Nottingham Open on Tuesday came on her WTA main-draw debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoy competing on the grass. I think it really suits my game. And of course the support [of home fans] helps. I think we\u2019re so lucky as Brits to have this amazing support. They are always behind you so that really helps you through some tight moments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m enjoying playing up above my ranking, having no pressure on me and being able to go out and play freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fran Jones, another of the British wildcards for Wimbledon, exited at the second round stage of the Nottingham Open, beaten 6-1, 6-3 by World No 32 Linda Noskova.<\/p>\n

Ryan Peniston, who has a wildcard in the men\u2019s main draw at Wimbledon, was beaten 7-6, 6-4 in the men\u2019s event at Nottingham by American Emilio Nava while Jan Choinski also went down to Portugal\u2019s Jaime Faria in straight sets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mimi Xu was sitting an A-level biology paper on Wednesday when the news broke that she had been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[79,1068,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-195733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114707147273378138","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}