We recently ran a competition in which two lucky TopCashback members would win an endorsement from Under Armour. To win the grand prize of £500 in Under Armour kit the entrants had to explain their challenge and why they should be endorsed by Under Armour.
The competition received over 30 applications, but only 2 could win. The winner’s selected were Eva and George; Eva's inspiring story featured in last month’s blog, where you can read all about how she's supporting her local athletics club with a sponsored multi-day run approximately 70 miles in distance.
The second winner was George, a budding tennis player from Twickenham, here’s George’s story:
George's Story Part 1
What a time to start my #IWill Blog, with Wimbledon in full swing and while I prepare for my next tennis tournaments.
“Hi, I'm George Davies a tennis player from Twickenham, Middlesex and I've been lucky enough to win an Under Armour clothing endorsement, which is great as it’s also what Andy Murray wears and this is the start of my blog - about my journey to becoming a Professional Tennis player, well some of it.
That's me in the photo's training in Wimbledon, in my new Under Armour gear, I’m training on courts opposite the All England Club, which somewhere I want to be playing in the future.
Grass is my favourite surface, my game suits grass (so I am told,) playing fast and serving big.
I train, play, compete and I’ve just finished two weeks tournaments in Israel where I stayed with a family, it saves money and feels safer. I went through three rounds of qualifying but lost in the main draw. I need to win a main draw first round match to get just one ATP point, so that is about 4-5 matches each tournament, it’s not easy.
Since Israel, I came back home trained and now I’m packing for 3 weeks in Portugal, again staying with a family to start - going to dig deep and work hard and I can wear my new clothing which is great as I’ve never had an endorsement before this time and it makes me feel good too wear good fitting, comfortable clothing #thanksunderarmouruk
George's Story Part 2
When I finished my last blog, I was going to play ITF Futures Tournaments in two locations in Portugal for three weeks. I stayed with a family the first two weeks and arrived just as Portugal were playing Ireland in the Euros and had a dinner invite with the tennis club coach and his family which was great and then for the final week I moved and stayed in a hotel. It was very hot and humid, probably more than I expected, the courts played slow which meant my game had to change slightly.
On this occasion I didn't pick up another singles point, but I did secure my Doubles World Ranking, by winning through to the semi's which will hopefully make it slightly easier for me in getting into the doubles main draws and getting better doubles partners when I travel to Futures tournaments.
Since arriving back I had some time to rest and recover and also had a wedding to attend, After that I went straight to Rye, East Sussex to play an Invitational Grass Court Tournament, rain stopped alot of play on the second day and because of the wedding I did not play the men's singles, but did win the Men's Doubles with my partner and the Handicap Mixed Doubles too. Handicap Doubles means that because my partner and I were the best pair, our opponents in each match were given an advantage in all games for example opponents in one match were given a 30-0 head start for 3 games and then in the 4th game they had a 40-0 head start. Good to come back and be winning.
This week my main coach left this position in Wimbledon, he has helped me progress a lot and under his guidance I gained my first World Ranking point, but now I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the future. Next week I play in a tournament Paddington, London this will be a singles only tournament, so hopefully I will do well and then after that in September I will play Internationally again.
George's Story Part 3
When I finished my last blog, I was going to play ITF Futures Tournaments in two locations in Portugal for three weeks. I stayed with a family the first two weeks and arrived just as Portugal were playing Ireland in the Euros and had a dinner invite with the tennis club coach and his family which was great and then for the final week I moved and stayed in a hotel. It was very hot and humid probably more than I expected, the courts played slow which meant my game had to change slightly.
On this occasion I didn't pick up another singles point, but I did secure my Doubles World Ranking, by winning through to the semi's which will hopefully make it slightly easier for me in getting into the doubles main draws and getting better doubles partners when I travel to Futures tournaments.
Since arriving back I had some time to rest and recover and also had a wedding to attend, After that I went straight to Rye, East Sussex to play an Invitational Grass Court Tournament, rain stopped alot of play on the second day and because of the wedding I did not play the men's singles, but did win the Men's Doubles with my partner and the Handicap Mixed Doubles too. Handicap Doubles means that because my partner and I were the best pair our opponents in each match were given an advantage in all games for example opponents in one match were given a 30-0 head start for 3 games and then in the 4th game they had a 40-0 head start. Good to come back and be winning.
This week my main coach left this position in Wimbledon, he has helped me progress a lot and under his guidance I gained my first World Ranking point, but now I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the future. Next week I play in a tournament Paddington, London this will be a singles only tournament, so hopefully I will do well and then after that I will play Internationally again.
Also in these photos I am wearing the latest Under Armour kit and I am on court with my coach at Wimbledon.
Follow Eva's fundraising challenge for her local athletics club.
