Meet the teenage Ukrainian refugee heading to Wimbledon
Illia Snaksarov was discovered hitting a tennis ball against the outside wall of the Glasgow hotel he and his parents were living in after fleeing Russia's invasion of their home town in 2022.
The determined 13-year-old was spotted by Svetlana Mackenzie, an interpreter who was working with displaced families as they arrived in Scotland. Mackenzie, who is a member of Western Tennis Club, arranged for Illia to play with other children there.
He rose rapidly through the club ranks, eventually winning the West of Scotland inter-club leagues, and secured his place at the Wimbledon juniors tournament after a win in the West of Scotland finals of the Play Your Way to Wimbledon event.
Next month he'll head south to SW19's hallowed grass courts to face competition from youngsters from around the UK.
Illia, a pupil at St Mungo's Academy, trains four times a week with his dad, Volodymyr, who ran tennis tournaments in Ukraine before the war — now he makes Wimbledon-themed bracelets to sell outside concerts and sports events raising money for his country's war effort.
Illia, who speaks seven languages (Ukrainian, Russian, English, Spanish, Italian, French and Polish), said: 'It's been great to play at Western, because up until that point I didn't have anywhere else to play, I didn't know about any courts to go to.
'When I came here I started coming to do training sessions working on my game. Then I started playing league matches after a couple of months.'
He added: 'My favourite player is Carlos Alcaraz, he plays good, aggressive tennis, and has a balanced mentality in games. I have a good serve, and can play aggressive forehands.'
Mackenzie, who works for Glasgow city council's Ukrainian response team, said: 'I could tell that Illia had talent and I was delighted to invite him and his dad to train at my club, Western, where I knew they would be welcomed and given opportunities.'
Illia's mother, Svitlana, who was a childminder and now volunteers in a city charity shop, has settled her family in Calton.
She said: 'There was a helicopter landing area close to our home in Khmelnitskiy and because of that there was a lot of shooting and fighting. We had to leave. Our main goal in coming here was for Illia to be safe.'
Volodymyr added: 'We are so grateful for the training sessions. It is so exciting, we are really happy about what's happening. It's such a good start and is a chance for him to respect what he can achieve. We are so grateful to the club for what they have given him.'
Ian Campbell, the head coach at Western, said: 'It's been inspiring to watch how hard Illia and his dad train and we are delighted that we have been able to offer him extra training and we will be rooting for him all the way at Wimbledon.'
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