The Perse School student Isabella Harvey earns place at World Women’s Under-19 Real Tennis Championships

The Perse School’s Isabella Harvey has secured herself a spot at the World Women’s Under-19 Real Tennis Championships.

The prestigious tournament, which is due to take place at The Oratory, in Oxfordshire, in April, will bring together the top 16 players in the age group from across the globe.

Harvey, who is a lower sixth form student, said: “I’m so pleased to have been invited to take part in the World Championships.

“I’m looking forward to it and I go into every competition thinking I’m going to win it. I believe you have to think like that.”

Harvey took up the sport, which is played on asymmetric walled indoor courts with the same scoring system to that of lawn tennis, at the age of nine.

And she has gone on to enjoy plenty of success, with her list of triumphs including winning the doubles and being the runner-up in the singles at last month’s National Women’s Under-19 Championships at Wellington College.

She added: “I’ve always played a lot of sport, particularly cross country in Years 7 and 8, but real tennis became my main sport when I realised I was quite good at it.

“You need to be quite fit to cover the court because it’s bigger than a (lawn) tennis court and you also have to try to predict where the ball is going to go.

“However, real tennis is quite complex, which is why I think it’s quite a niche sport. It took me a few years to learn the rules.

“I enjoy it because it tests you mentally as well as physically.

“I like the fact you don’t always know where the ball is going to go and there are so many different strategies you can use.”