Junior Commonwealth Games Report by Cardiff Met Head Coach, Chris Lewis

Chris is the Head Coach for performance tennis at Cardiff Met. A former top 500 ranked ATP Tour player, Chris has competed at Wimbledon and represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Since retiring, Chris has worked with a number of top ranked British players, including Johanna Konta, Joshua Milton and Evan Hoyt. Chris is a level 5 Master Performance Coach. Chris travelled with the Junior Commonwealth Team as the Tennis Captain - here's his report on the event. 

The sixth edition of the Junior Commonwealth Games was hosted by the Bahamas and included teams from 64 countries and over 1000 athletes. Tennis was one of the sports in which athletes were able to compete for medals, in the disciplines of boys singles, girls singles and mixed doubles.

James Story and Morgan Cross were selected to represent Wales a few months prior to the event and would exceed expectations by winning 3 medals between them. Both players were seeded 5th in singles courtesy of their ITF Junior rankings and as a pair they were seeded 4th in the mixed doubles.

James won his first match against Jayasundara Mudiyan (Sri Lanka) 6-0 6-4 in the last 16 and followed that up with a 7-6 6-3 win against the second seed in the Quarter Finals, Siphosothando Montsi (RSA) who was ranked at 110 in the world juniors. In the Semi-Final James played some of his best tennis in beating the 4th seed Eleftherios Neos (CYP) 6-2 6-2 to guarantee himself a medal. It was an emotional time for all involved and for James to have some of his family there to share the moment with him made it extra special. In the Gold Medal match, James would play Hamish Stewart (SCO) and lose out 4-6 4-6. He started the match very well but Hamish stayed in touch on the score board and edged the first set. From there on James was second best and unable to get back into the match despite his best efforts.

Morgan also started in the round of the last 16 and played Mwayi Kaddamanja (Malawi). A ruthless and confident performance got her off to the perfect start winning 6-0 6-0. A rain break came at 6-0 5-0, 40-15 serving much to Morgan’s frustration but after nearly an hour wait she went back onto court and hit an ace to wrap up the match! In the Quarter Final she too would face the 2nd seed from South Africa. In the closest match of the tournament Morgan lost 6-3 2-6 6-7(6) in nearly 3 hours of tennis in high heat and humidity. Playing a girl ranked around 200 places higher meant that Morgan went into the match as the underdog but she gave herself every chance to win with an excellent performance.

Morgan and James formed a superb partnership in the mixed doubles and there is no doubt that they were the team with the best energy and togetherness in the event. After beating pairs from the Bahamas and England in straight sets they would meet the top seeded Indian pair in the Semi Final. With a combined ITF Junior ranking of just under 100, India had highest ranked boy and girl in the events and would take some stopping. James and Morgan were giving away around 900 places in the rankings and a year or two in age but the match was as close as they come. The Indian pair won the match 7-6(6) 7-6(5) with their additional experience, including playing in Junior Wimbledon this year, seeing them through at the end of both sets. I was very proud of the welsh pair as they once again produced a performance above and beyond what was expected of them.

A retirement from South Africa ahead of the Bronze Medal match meant that Wales were awarded the bronze medal which they thoroughly deserved. India went on to win Gold very comfortably in the final as we expected them to.

I cannot stress enough how well James and Morgan performed at this event. To travel half way around the world to a different climate and time zone in such a high profile event and play the way they did was hugely impressive. Perhaps even more importantly they showed passion, pride, togetherness and belief and in that way demonstrated the values asked of them and the rest of Team Wales. There is no doubt that they will have enhanced the reputation of Welsh tennis amongst the other sports in Wales and across the Commonwealth countries who were at the Games. 

Outside of the tennis event it was an amazing experience to be surrounded by some of the best young athletes in the world and from so many different sports. James, Morgan and I learned a lot from the other Welsh athletes and coaches and received fantastic support from them and all of the Team Wales HQ staff. Gerwyn Owen (Chef de Mission), Cathy Williams (Team Manager), Rhys Shorney (Team Physio) and Katy Guy (Team Doctor) all put a huge amount of work in before, during and after the event to help all of the athletes perform.

A big thank you to the families of James and Morgan for their unconditional support prior to and during the event. I’m sure that seeing their children win medals for their country was an unforgettable experience and they certainly did everything they could to help them achieve that.

I’d also like to thank Ellinore Lightbody for the work she did in preparing the team for the Games. Preparation is one of the major factors in performance and I’m confident that the team would not have had the success it did without her time, energy and expert coaching in the lead up.

Lastly, a thank you to Tennis Wales for all of the time, resources and funding diverted toward making this trip possible for the team. James and Morgan will have gained invaluable experiences which will help them to progress and were extremely grateful for all of the help, as am I.

Chris Lewis (Team Wales - Tennis Captain).