Double delight for Shropshire ace Holly as she wins national titles
Shropshire tennis ace Holly Mowling enjoyed a weekend to remember as she lifted two top national titles in Bournemouth.
Holly, the captain of Shropshire’s ladies side and coach at Bridgnorth Tennis Club, was crowned over-35s singles champion at the British Open Clay Court Tennis Championships, an International Tennis Federation event for seniors.
She also headed home from the south coast as doubles champion, with her notable triumphs believed to make her the first Shropshire women’s player to ever land a national title.
Holly, 34, only became eligible to play in the over-35s age group in January, the start of her 35th year, and was runner-up in the first tournament she entered, the British Indoor Championships at Dudley.
But she was delighted to go one better in Bournemouth after playing with typical determination to beat Devon’s Kate Brown, the No 1 seed, in an exciting final.
Holly, who lives in Broseley, lost the opening set 6-2 and trailed 4-1 in the second, but hit back in style to take it 6-4 before winning the decider 6-3.
She said: “I was 4-1 down in the second set and struggling a bit as Kate was playing well. I just had to literally dig deep, change my game plan and just go for it as I had nothing to lose at that point – and, thankfully, it paid off.
“I now hope to fit in some more tournaments around my coaching, which is my top priority. This win has given me a lot of ITF senior world ranking points and it was nice to see I had climbed 48 places up to 17th when I checked a few days later.”
Just for good measure, Holly also teamed up with Bedfordshire’s Claire Raddan to win the doubles event in Bournemouth.
As captain of Shropshire’s ladies side, Holly is now looking forward to the Summer County Cup at the end of July in Ilkley and also the over-35s County Championships at Eastbourne.
Pictured: Shropshire’s Holly Mowling is all smiles after her double triumph in the British Open Clay Court Tennis Championships in Bournemouth.
