Sports
Five-year old Brit Jhonayah Fletchman, who was compared to gold dust by an ex-coach for the Lawn Tennis Association is being touted as the next Serena Williams
Updated : Sep 28, 2017, 09:06 PM IST
Five-year old Brit Jhonayah Fletchman, who was compared to gold dust by an ex-coach for the Lawn Tennis Association is being touted as the next Serena Williams.
"As she lifts her tennis racket and gets ready to serve, little Jhonayah Fletchman's run-down surroundings seem a world away from Wimbledon. Graffiti covers the walls of the clubhouse, and the courts where the five-year-old practises every day are in a litter-strewn and scruffy corner of an inner-city park," The Sun reports.
Despite it being only a year since she first picked up a tennis racket, Jhonayah is one of Britain's best hopes for the future of tennis.
"I have been a coach for ten years and have never seen a kid of Jhonayah's age with that ability. She is light years ahead of other children. You dream about finding a child like that," The Sun quoted Mark Cowley, now head coach at the Regional Tennis Centre in Manchester, as saying.
Jhonayah's ten-year-old brother Nemiah and eight-year-old brother Moezze are also tennis sensations.
"The family's talent echoes the phenomenal success of US tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, who were brought up in the notorious Los Angeles suburb of Compton," The Sun reports.