Mimi Xu, the reigning Wrexham Open champion, has reflected positively on her experiences after playing in Wimbledon’s main draw for the second time.

The rising Welsh star – currently tenth in the British women’s rankings – featured in both the singles and doubles at SW19.

Xu impressed Welsh tennis fans with her performances on her way to winning both the singles and doubles titles at the Wrexham Tennis & Padel Centre last October.

Having received a wild card to the Wimbledon main draw, the 18-year-old was handed a tough first round match against Daria Kasatkina, the former world number eight.

Xu took a set off her more experienced Australian opponent before eventually losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist.

Xu also played in the doubles, partnering Alicia Dudeney, with the Brits bowing out 6-3, 6-4 in round one against 2023 French Open doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei and Wang Xinyu.

“I hope for the rest of the year my goal is to just to keep on developing my game and making sure it’s stable in those key moments, those tight moments, that I’m able to really trust my game, and then just getting matches back under the belt and just keep it rolling,” Xu said.

“I think if I do those things results will come, whether that be playing some lower level tournaments to get my confidence and match tolerance up, or whether that be translating into getting into Grand Slam qualifiers, I think it will all come naturally as long as I’m doing the right things.”

Dave Courteen, the Wrexham Open promoter, said he’s looking forward to potentially welcoming Xu back to North Wales later this year as preparations continue for the ITF World Tennis Tour event, which will take place between October 18-25.

“Mimi can be very proud of the way she played at Wimbledon after being handed such a tough first round draw,” Courteen added.

“She continues to represent Welsh tennis so well and we hope to see her back playing in Wrexham in October as defending champion.

“Mimi received such fantastic support when she played here last year and it will be the same again if she returns. She’s an exciting talent with a bright future.

“It was also pleasing to see Mika Stojsavljevic, who lost to Mimi in last year’s singles final in Wrexham, playing in the main draw at Wimbledon. Mika also played some good tennis in her match against Belinda Bencic, the 11th seed and former Olympic gold medallist, which was another really difficult draw.”

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