Hadleigh tennis player Paul Midgley lands scholarship at Dartmouth College in US
Paul Midgley - Credit: Lucy taylor
A former Hadleigh High School pupil has been served an ace after landing a four-year tennis scholarship at a prestigious American university.
Suffolk number one Paul Midgley, 18, is heading Stateside next August and will juggle his ambition of becoming a full-time player with an English Literature degree.
Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, will be the venue for Midgley, an A-level student at Suffolk One College.
He also considered Yale and Harvard and has been helped by the Sutton Trust, which helps pupils from state schools achieve such opportunities.
“I would like to complete a degree in English and get to the point where I am playing tennis on a full-time basis on the men’s tour, that would be a dream,” said Midgley, who has played on the AEGON British Tour this season.
“Tennis scholarships are coming in more now as players develop later and John Isner (world number 14) is one player that has come through the system.”
Midgley, who plays at David Lloyd in Ipswich, will be coached by American Chris Drake, 32, who reached the top-100 in the ATP Doubles Tour.
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His Personal Progress Tutor at Suffolk One is Ian Brown, the current assistant manager at AFC Sudbury.
“Paul is an A-star student and manages to complete his training and studies,” he said.
“He is not arrogant or pretentious, he is an example and a role-model to young people and it goes to show that nice guys don’t always finish last.”
