Mercury Tennis Club’s Danny Ward is Great Britain’s number one in the International Tennis Federation’s over-35 age group, despite being one of the oldest in the section.

Ham & High: Danny Ward on the court with two young hopefuls at Mercury Tennis ClubDanny Ward on the court with two young hopefuls at Mercury Tennis Club (Image: Archant)

Ward, 44, competes almost 10 years below his age, but that hasn’t stopped him topping the British rankings, while also being ranked number 22 in the world.

“I had the urge to play again when I was 35 and I used to play the ITF tour where I become number one in the country. I represented Great Britain as well as entering the top five in the world,” said Ward.

“There are some very good players at this level and there are a lot of ex-professionals as well to come up against so the competition is pretty tough.”

Now Ward, who is joint owner of Mercury Tennis Club based in the Hampstead Garden Suburb with Ros Edwards, is targeting further success as the year goes on.

He reached the final of the recent National Clay Court Championships in Bournemouth, but had to pull out with injury, and is hoping to compete at the National Grass Court Championships.

He added: “The Clay Court Championships went really well and with it being a Grade A ranking event it means it is worth even more points, but unfortunately I had to miss the final through injury.

“I haven’t decided whether to play Grass Court Nationals. I did win the championships in 2008 and it used to be held at Wimbledon at the time.

“They are having some of the areas at Wimbledon redeveloped so it won’t be there this year unfortunately, but it was nice to go out on the courts at Wimbledon and win the event as well.”

As well as competing in senior events, both Ward and Richards perform coaching roles at Mercury, with good numbers in attendance of all age groups and abilities.

“I joined the club about 10 years ago as well, and we have put our own money into the club so it is nice to see it doing so well,” he added.

“We play on synthetic grass and coach players of all abilities and the club is going along nicely, but we always want to encourage more people to take up the sport and join our club.”

See mercurytennisclub.com or call 07921 675206 for details.