Adam Wharf, the director of performance tennis at The Shrewsbury Club, insists it was a huge honour to be one of ten coaches selected by the Lawn Tennis Association to study the best young players in the world at the French Open.
Adam and his fellow UK coaches were chosen to watch the top up and coming players competing at Roland Garros in Paris on a fact-finding mission for the LTA.
He stressed it was a really enjoyable experience and he was grateful for the opportunity.
Adam said: “I was delighted to be asked to go to Paris and it was an awareness in standards trip.
“The LTA selected ten coaches nationally and we were out there to observe the best juniors in the world, to profile them and come back with some resources that the coach education department will then use in the future. It was a fantastic experience and an enjoyable four days closely watching the best juniors in the world playing in Paris.
“It was a wonderful opportunity and it’s the first time for a while there’s been an international trip like this one organised, so I was really honoured to be selected.
“I had been fortunate to have been to the French Open before but not for about ten years, so it was certainly very nice to go back."
Adam, who spent three years playing tennis professionally before becoming a coach, was impressed with the quality of the junior tennis, with Australian Alexei Popyrin and American Whitney Osuigwe eventually crowned as French Open Junior champions.
He also managed to watch some of the senior tournament during his time in Paris.
He added: “I went out a day early to watch some of the seniors, so I got to see Fernando Verdasco play Kei Nishikori, which was a great experience to go onto Court Suzanne Lenglen. We also got a bit lucky with the weather, which is always nice. It was a great few days away at a fantastic tournament.”
