Watford Grammar School pupil Ali Habib struggled to contain his delight after going one better than Andy Murray by lifting a trophy on the famous grass courts of Wimbledon this year.

Habib, 14, was competing in the HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 & Under Challenge – the UK’s largest grass court tournament, involving more than 10,000 youngsters each year.

And after triumphing at the previous Regional finals, Habib can now lay claim to being one of the best in the country in his age category after winning last week’s National finals at the iconic venue without dropping a set.

Not only did he manage to beat second seed Alexander Knox-Jones 7-6 7-5 in Saturday’s final, Habib was also watched closely by former British number one Tim Henman.

And impressing on the court, Habib admitted the experience had been one of the highlights of his summer.

“It feels really good to have won, the first set was really close and went to a tie-break then I went 5-1 down in the second set,” Habib, who trains at David Lloyd Northwood, said.

“I played really well towards the end to win, it’s been a really good week and it’s my first national win so that’s really good.

“I then went to Nottingham to play a grade one tournament straight away and this is a big confidence boost.

“I’ve never met Tim Henman before, so it’s really exciting that I got to meet him as well.

“This is my favourite tournament I’ve played so far and to win it is really good, but I just came to enjoy it because I know it’s good experience.”

The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 & Under Challenge forms part of HSBC’s investment in grassroots tennis; an area of the sport the Official Banking Partner of The Championships has been supporting since 2008.

HSBC also supports the Wimbledon Foundation through the Ticket Resale Scheme – with the bank matching donations made by the public.

Former world number four Henman also was on hand to present the trophies after Saturday’s finals and he admitted he had been impressed with what he had seen.

“I’ve been coming to this event for the past ten years, the enthusiasm of the kids is always the same but every year the standard gets better and better," he said.

“The ethos of the event is about grassroots, getting more and more people playing the game, but we’ve also seen some brilliant tennis.

“For them this is a great experience, this can hopefully inspire some of them to want to come here in the future and that it’s not just a pipe dream.

“Our 2014 winner, Siddhant Banthia, was at Junior Wimbledon this year, we’re not only giving them the opportunity but the belief that if they work hard, they can go places."