Bede's tennis ace ranked Sussex number two

A Bede's student and tennis ace has been ranked as number two adult male tennis player in Sussex.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Mar 2016, 07:00 BST
Tennis ace Kai Maxted, a 15-year-old pupil at Bedes Senior School in Upper Dicker, SUS-161003-104629001Tennis ace Kai Maxted, a 15-year-old pupil at Bedes Senior School in Upper Dicker, SUS-161003-104629001
Tennis ace Kai Maxted, a 15-year-old pupil at Bedes Senior School in Upper Dicker, SUS-161003-104629001

Kai Maxted, 15, also holds the titles of number one in Sussex at both the under 18 and under 16 level.

With a string of singles and doubles victories to his name, Kai earned this most recent honour having taken part in the Under 18 County Cup and a Grade Two LTA National tournament in Gosling where he defeated his opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

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Hailing from Goring-by-Sea, Kai first started playing tennis aged just four with a plastic tennis set bought from a local supermarket.

He said “My parents bought that kit when we went on holiday. I don’t think they realised quite what they were starting because I got hooked straight away and really love playing.”

Now coached by Bede’s director of tennis and ex-GB number one Julie Salmon, Kai plays upwards of 20 hours a week around his GCSE studies and is part of the school’s pioneering Emerging Talent Programme which prepares young athletes for careers in sport.

Currently taking part in an under 16 grade one tournament in Roehampton where he is competing against the top 16 young tennis players in the country, Kai is already looking ahead to a grade two LTA tournament in Nottingham during the Easter holidays.

He said, “After that though, I have my GCSE exams.

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“So I have some serious revision to do. My plan is to study A Level maths, chemistry and probably economics during the Sixth Form at Bede’s, Although after my GCSEs I will be doing some ITF tournaments in Europe to get my ITF ranking up. The hope is that I can push on to play much more in Europe over the next few years, but along the way who knows what could happen.”

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Related topics:Sussex