D Squad member Pippa Horn makes Aegon Junior Nationals Final!

Fourteen-year-old wild card and Dunlop D- Squad member Pippa Horn has made the final of the AEGON Junior Nationals 18&U with a fantastic win over third seed Jessica Ren today.

Continuing her seed-toppling run, which has seen her defeat second seed Lucy Brown in the first round, Horn took out Ren in three sets, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.

It looked at one point as if the teenager from Norfolk was going to complete a comfortable straight sets win, leading 3-1 in the second.

But the tenacious Ren fought back courtesy of three double faults from her opponent. A topsy-turvy set ensued, with Ren making the breakthrough at 4-3, but then relinquishing her break when serving for the set.

The Yorkshire girl finally managed to force the match into a decider after an epic game at 5-6, breaking Horn’s serve to take the set 7-5.

“I’m feeling really good,” Horn said after the match. “I didn’t think I’d win at all. She’s a great player and after the first set went 6-0 I was thinking ‘what’s going on?’.

“But then she got back into the second set, which I thought she would, because I’d heard she’s a fighter, but I thought I did well in the third set just to keep it together and win it.”

Pippa will now face Jessica’s older sister Jennifer in the final, who defeated sixth seed Amy Askew in straight sets today, 6-4, 6-4.

If you think you have what it takes to join Dunlop’s D-Squad – fill in the form on the D-Squad page!