Meet Bristol's very own Wimbledon champion - teenager Joe Hill

Bristol teenager Joe Hill is celebrating after becoming a HSBC Road to Wimbledon national champion on the famous grass courts of the All England Club.

And four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman was on hand to present the prizes, which included a £250 coaching grant.

The 14-year-old from Coombe Dingle, who attends Redland Green School, won the national 14-and-under boys' doubles title with partner Simon Pritchard, of Wales, at the weekend.

Hill and Pritchard made up for their disappointing early exits in the singles by beating Ryan Frankel and Jordan Parker 6-4, 6-3 in the doubles final.

“It was a great experience,” said Hill. “I was meant to go further in the singles, as was my partner, so we spoke after that and said, ‘Let’s make sure we do really well in the doubles’.

“We thought we would be No 4 seeds, but we were No 2 and we had the hardest draw, so we did really well to get to the final.”

Once there, their victory was convincing as they saw off the challenge of Frankel and Parker with relative ease.

And their success is all the more impressive given they never get to train together.

“I only get to see Simon at the big tournaments, but we are good friends, so we always try to play doubles together,” said Hill.

“We play really well together and because we are such good friends, it is not like I am playing with someone for the first time.

“He is a very good player and I know that if I play badly, he is going to keep me in the match.”

Hill had earlier exited the singles with a three-set defeat to Kent’s Steven Blythe – but remained philosophical about his singles defeat.

“When Tim Henman was 14, he wasn’t top in his age-group and he went on to be No 4 in the world,” said Hill.

Henman, who took a coaching clinic at the tournament, said: “Joseph played exceptionally well and I look forward to seeing how his tennis progresses.”