Mimi Xu named Tennis Wales’ player of the year

Chris Lewis, head of performance at Tennis Wales, says 2026 promises to be an equally successful year for Welsh tennis.

“It’s going to be really exciting following Mimi, she’s getting accepted into the Grand Slam events by ranking now, so we should see her in qualifiyng and also in the main draw,” he said.

“We’ve got three or four players coming just behind Mimi that are playing on the professional circuit. They all have career-high rankings as they move up through the levels.”

Lewis also expects last year’s player of the year, Wales number one James Story, to push on, while 19-year-old Viktor Frydrych is just breaking through on the men’s circuit, having been a top 20 junior in the world.

“There’s an exciting group of juniors as well,” added Lewis.

“They’re heading off to US college for the next stage of their careers and hoping to play the grass courts at some of the major events, including Junior Wimbledon.

“Watch out for players like Oliver Page, Archie Gray and Niall Pickard-Barua who are all playing at the top end of the junior ITF tournaments.”