One of the leading hopes of Tennis Wales’ independent junior initiative based at Cardiff Esporta, is celebrating a dream come true to play in next week’s Junior Wimbledon.

17 year-old Joshua Milton, who is 18 in October, has been issued a wildcard to play in the junior tournament and will be granted a ticket to tread the courts of champions on either Saturday 7^th or Monday 9^th July, though the date is yet to be confirmed by the LTA.

The right-handed player, who is Welsh Champion at U16 and U18 level, is ranked 162 in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings, although his career best is 139. Still only on the crux of completing his school and college education, he is within reach of becoming one of the leading junior tennis players in Britain.

Young players must reach a top 200 ITF (International Tennis Federation) ranking to be considered for Junior Wimbledon. In January 2006, Milton had an ITF ranking of 273, but picked up points in such far-flung outposts as Chinese Taipei, Japan, Paraguay and Argentina to graduate him through the rankings.