Scott Watson from Bury St Edmunds follows in Sir Andy Murray’s footsteps as he leaves Culford School as national under-14s champion to top breakout year
After following in the footsteps of Sir Andy Murray as a national champion ahead of becoming only the second GB player to reach the final of the under-14 European Championships, 2024 has certainly been a breakout year for Scott Watson.
But the now departed Culford School pupil - having been head-hunted to join the LTA-run Loughborough University National Tennis Academy ahead of making his Junior Wimbledon debut - is looking to end it with another special memory as he prepares to head to glamorous Monte Carlo.
Much like the ATP Finals event that graced the O2 in London for a run of years in recent times, the Tennis Europe Junior Masters event being held in Monaco is an exclusive tournament that only the top six-ranked plus two selected other Junior Tour entrants qualify for.
And former South Lee School pupil Watson, following a stellar summer, has now ensured his place having catapulted himself up to joint second in the ‘Race to Monte Carlo’.
He is one of three Britons occupying the current top four spots, having recently beaten top ranked Eric Lorimer in the final of the Lexus Junior National Championships in the Boys’ 14U Singles section (7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4) at the back end of August at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Watson also walked off with a second national title from the same weekend, winning the Boys’ 14U Doubles alongside Lorimer (7-6, 1-6, 10-4) in what was a perfect sign-off to his time under coaches Chris Johnson and Matt Lowe at Culford School.
“It has always been a tournament I have really wanted to win, having lost in the quarters in the previous two years which I think shows my improvement in my game in the last year,” he told the Free Press.
“It was also a perfect ending to my journey at Culford with my coaches supporting me.”
Having become what is believed to be Bury St Edmunds and Suffolk’s first ever national tennis champion, Watson then followed it up on the LTA-led team of three that went out to the 14&U European Championships in The Czech Republic earlier this month.
In reaching the Boys’ Singles final, where he lost out to top Dutch player Stan Put over three sets, he became only the second GB player to ever do so since the LTA began sending junior talents there back in 1976. The only previous runner-up of the tournament was Kyle Edmund in 2009.
Chris Wilkinson, the LTA GB coach was said to be ‘highly complimentary’ when Watson battled back from losing positions to progress through to the showpiece.
The points accrued ensured his place in the eight-player end-of-season finals tournament in Monte Carlo.
Watson had said ahead of securing his place, that he would ‘really like to qualify for that’ and get to play in front of his parents out in Monaco.
That dream will become a reality at the world-famous Monte-Carlo Country Club from October 23-26.
