Just back from Weybridge, where Daniel played in Surrey Winter County Tournament, 9 & Under Boys Singles. His mini-tennis stage went up from Red to Orange in September and this is the first tournament he's played at that level outside his home club. The matches are longer and on a bigger court. He starts ranked as Orange 4
I thought Daniel played very well: technically he was definitely as good as any of them but some had a little more court craft and pretty much all were bigger (most were Orange 1 or 2).
He won his first match 7-5 6-7 7-4 against a lad he had beaten before in Red.
He then got rinsed 1-7 2-7 by a big, strong lad with a powerful serve and nice touch too. One of the other Dad's told me that he won the Surrey championship playing a year above himself last year.
He won his last match 7-4 7-3 and served a few aces along the way.
He was 2nd in his group so didn't go through. As we were thanking the referee and leaving he said to Daniel that he liked his attitude on court which was good to hear - there was one kid there who was giving it far too much "come on" and the like and there were tears and tantrums from him and at least one other lad (unfortunately he won his group).
The event was well-run and I found it better than Red as there is less parental involvement in the matches - the boys have to call their own lines and keep their own score. Interestingly Daniel would have won the 3rd game by an even bigger margin if he's called a couple of balls out instead of playing them. Overall was very impressed with how he handled himself.
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