BOURNEMOUTH tennis starlet Esther Adeshina is eyeing more playing time at Wimbledon after sharing the famous SW19 courts with former British number one Tim Henman.

Adeshina last year reached the national finals of the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14-and-Under Challenge, the UK’s largest grass court tournament.

And she returned to the All England Club earlier this month with her reward being a masterclass from Henman on court 19.

With a large crowd gathering, Talbot Heath School pupil Adeshina strutted her stuff alongside Henman and admitted the day would live long in her memory.

“It was really good out there and I enjoyed it,” the 14-year-old said. “The atmosphere was good and it was fun.

“It was good to play with Tim and, although it was good fun, it was also a really good experience.

“My next aim is to do well on the junior circuit and plays some ITF events and, hopefully, one day play a Grand Slam as well.

“And I think playing here with Tim at Wimbledon will really help me do that.”

HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14-and-Under Challenge forms part of HSBC’s investment in grassroots tennis, an area of the sport the Official Banking Partner of The Championships has been supporting since 2008.

Each year, more than 10,000 youngsters take part in the series of national tennis tournaments, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars to take their tennis careers from the back garden to Centre Court.

And Henman insists the future is bright in the hands of Adeshina.

“The whole HSBC Road to Wimbledon has come such a long way in the past 13 or 14 years,” HSBC Ambassador Henman said. “It is amazing to see how the standard has improved nationwide and it has been a big success.

“And this is a great day out for people to come and experience it all and get to see the Championships too.

“This is not about trying to produce a Wimbledon champion but it is about improving accessibility.

“There are some proper players coming through and Esther is one of them"

HSBC is the Official Banking Partner of The Championships and is committed to supporting grassroots tennis, helping to inspire the next generation of Wimbledon stars to take their tennis careers from the back garden to Centre Court through the HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14-and-Under Challenge.