Wimbledon star out to follow in footsteps of mum who won £17m and three slams
Teenage tennis star Jagger Leach is the son of former Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport and is competing in the junior championship at SW19.
Jagger Leach has followed his mother’s example by earning his first-ever win at Wimbledon. The son of former world number one Lindsay Davenport, Leach is battling for glory in the Junior Championship at SW19.
The 17-year-old comes from a formidable tennis background, with his mother being a three-time Grand Slam Winner and his father Jon also a former pro. The pressure of living up to Davenport’s achievements could have affected him but Leach is seemingly taking it all in his stride.
The teenager has already won several titles in his young career and is enjoying his first year on the junior tournament circuit, which recently led him to make his Wimbledon debut. The 17-year-old played across two days to earn a hard-fought victory over Spain’s Izan Almazan Valiente (7-6, 7-5) and fulfil a lifelong dream.
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Asked about his Wimbledon experience so far, Leach told the Tennis Channel: “It’s such an amazing place and the courts are so nice and everything is so formal - I love it here!
“Wimbledon just has such great history. From a young age, I thought, ‘I really want to play at Wimbledon.’ That was always the goal. Obviously playing at the other slams is really cool as well but this is probably one of my favourite places in the world. It’s just so amazing to be here.“
In the studio, tennis legend Martina Navratilova likened Leach winning a break point to Davenport’s Wimbledon victory in 1999. “I don’t know if we can compare the first round of juniors to the finals of the pros,” he replied. “A win is a win, we’re working our way there.” Navratilova ended the segment with a message for Davenport: “Lindsay, your boy got it done today.”
Leach faces an uphill battle to eclipse his mother’s career. Davenport won the US Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open and a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. She earned a remarkable £17m ($22m) throughout her career, making Davenport the all-time highest-earning female player until Serena Williams in 2009.
Her son’s immediate focus is not on prize money, though. Leach’s victory over Almazan has set up a round of 32 match with number six seed Jan Kumstat and the teenager is aware of how good the Czech is, having come up against him earlier this year.
“I played him in Traralgon, which is the lead-in tournament before [the Australian Open],” Leach explained. “I lost to him 6-3, 6-4. He was playing really good tennis, got to the finals of the Australian Open this year, so I’m going to see what I can do and try and bring my best game.”