The Esplanade Hotel Blog

At The Esplanade, we’re passionate about supporting our local community and nurturing young talent, helping aspiring stars grow and flourish on both national and international stages. Our rising tennis star, Poppy Clemow, is a perfect example. At just 10 years old, she’s spent the last 12 months serving up determination, love of the game, and some seriously impressive results.

As proud sponsors, we’ve loved cheering her on through every title and fearless leap forward. Month by month, Poppy has embraced new challenges, grown in confidence, and packed her year with the kind of moments that make her journey truly remarkable.

Join us as we look back on Poppy’s incredible year – a whirlwind of hard work, big dreams, and a future that’s shining brighter with every swing.

January – Starting the year in style

Poppy opened her year by travelling to Corby for a 10U Grade 2 National Tour event, where she battled through tough matches, collected both wins and valuable lessons, and reunited with friends from across the UK.

Back home, she was honoured with Young Player of the Year at the Heron Annual Awards, delivering a heartfelt speech about the joy and community that tennis brings to her life.

The month finished with a dream moment – Poppy stepping onto court as a ball girl for an exhibition match featuring her coach, former Wimbledon pro Artem Sitak, and current pro Fin Bass, who even dropped into Poppy’s lesson the next day to watch her play.

February – Raising the bar

In Bristol, Poppy spent a day training with National Pathway coaches at the LTA Regional Performance Camp, pushing through fitness circuits, agility drills and competitive match play alongside some of the region’s strongest young athletes.

March – Making her mark

March was a landmark month. Poppy stepped into her first full ball tournament against top county 14U players and won all her matches. She then returned to Corby for a 10U Grade 1 National Tour, showing resilience and high-quality tennis throughout.

At a Southwest Grade 3 11U event, she reached the semi-finals in singles before storming to victory in the doubles with her partner.

April – A month of variety

With fewer tournaments, April brought balance and adventure: surf lifesaving, climbing, and shining on stage as the Wicked Witch of the West in her school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. Her performance was made even more special by her coach Artem and his wife Anya cheering from the audience.

May – Double titles in Devon

At the South Devon Easter Open, Poppy took home first place in the 11U singles, and alongside partner Pippa, added the 11U doubles title too. With her coach Artem present, the tournament gave them new insights and clear goals for future training.

June – County glory and national recognition

June was packed with proud milestones.

At the Bridgewater LTC May Day event, Poppy won the 11U doubles, finished runner-up in singles, and soon after represented Cornwall at the 10U County Cup, where she played as the team’s No. 1 seed, winning all her singles matches.

The successes kept coming at the Heron Open G3, where she won both the 10U singles and the 11U doubles.

To top it all off, Poppy received news of her selection for the LTA Regional Player Development Centre Longlist for 2025/26, an enormous step in her performance pathway journey.

July – A future scholar

After a day of fitness testing and match-play scenarios at Polwhele House, coaches praised Poppy’s athleticism and attitude, and she was offered a sports scholarship to the school. A huge achievement and an exciting new chapter.

August – Ending the school year on a high

Sports Day saw Poppy dominate the track, winning both sprint and long-distance events, along with multiple additional points for her house.

She then attended a taster day at the West Hants Regional Player Development Centre, training alongside top performance players in a full day of drills, strength & conditioning, and matchplay.

At the Dorset Open G3, she fought hard and, after a tough early loss to the eventual champion, bounced back to win the consolation draw.

A special highlight was visiting The Esplanade Hotel to collect her copy of Roam & Wild Magazine, where she appeared in her first published interview – a moment of huge pride.

September – An international exchange and summer finale

Poppy joined a week-long camp with visiting players from TC Steinbach in Frankfurt, filled with morning runs, training sessions, football, hockey, and beach walks. The final tournament of the week saw Team Heron beat the German visitors.

She went on to win the 11U event at the Penzance Open G3 and added another 11U doubles title with partner Pippa in Torbay.

The summer concluded with spectacular success at the James Webster County Championships, where Poppy captured both the 10U and 11U singles titles.

October – Settling into scholar life

Starting her new chapter at Polwhele House, Poppy embraced new sports and subjects with enthusiasm. She won her Inter-House Cross Country event and celebrated the success of her coach Artem and Team New Zealand as they earned promotion in the Davis Cup.

November – Turning 10 and taking off

At an Athlete Development Day at Bath University, Poppy absorbed wisdom from inspiring workshops and sport science experts.

She celebrated her 10th birthday with a weekend away and a hard-working training session – complete with on-court cake.

This month also saw Poppy’s multisport talents shine: her netball team became Cornish schools’ champions, her rugby team won regionals, and she took first place in an inter-school cross country race.

To round it off, she took part in a sports psychology workshop, learning new mental skills to sharpen her performance on court.

December – Training, team spirit and festive excitement

As the Christmas holidays approach, Poppy is busy preparing for upcoming tournaments and enjoying extra time on court with her coach and friends. She was thrilled to receive a very special early Christmas gift from her sponsors at Tecnifibre – her first full-size racket! Poppy is excited to embrace the festive season and to celebrate an unforgettable year with everyone who has supported her along the way.

As Poppy looks ahead to the next chapter of her tennis journey, we couldn’t be prouder to be part of her story. Her year has been a reminder of what’s possible when talent, dedication, and support come together. We can’t wait to see what she serves up next, on and off the court. Here’s to another year of growth, adventure, and smashing success for Poppy!