A Highbury teenager won two gold medals at a national tennis tournament for people with learning difficulties.
Lily Mills, 14, of Whistler Street, competed against the top ranked British women in what was her first senior competition but won all of her matches convincingly at the Tennis Foundation’s National championships for learning difficulties in Nottingham.
Lily, who attends Stormont House Special School in Hackney, has enjoyed playing tennis since she was four years old and takes to the court at Islington Tennis Centre up to four times a week.
Even after suffering a serious ankle injury she continued to train in a wheelchair.
Her mother, Tallulah Bayley, said: “She beat some of the girls that represent the national team so it’s a really great achievement.
“She started playing when she was four and I used to drag her to watch her brother and we would hit a ball together.”
Lily, a two-time London Youth Games Learning Difficulties team champion with her school, said: “I was nervous to begin with, but enjoyed it very much, I love tennis.”
Lily’s dream is to meet and play tennis with her idol Rafael Nadal.
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