Challengers: Hampton’s very own tennis prodigies

By Arun Crowe

We often find life at Hampton tough, with the multitude of demands from various teachers and fellow pupils weighing down on our minds and robbing us of our free time. But it is important to remember the wealth of opportunities surrounding us, and that if we organise ourselves well enough, there aren’t many of them we can’t take. 

And perhaps the two finest examples of this can be found in Hampton’s two tennis prodigies, Dario Puljic and Juan-Leonardo Solari, the Lower Sixth’s very own Federer and Nadal. Beginning their careers at ages four and three respectively, tennis has been in both their lives for as long as they can remember. And as they’ve developed and advanced in the sport throughout the years, deciding to pursue it more seriously, the hours have only piled up. And yet, both remaining at Hampton after the culmination of their GCSEs, they have found a way to thrive both on and off the court. 

They have both come a long way from running around the court with their dads, ‘hitting foam balls around and chasing after anything I could reach’, which Solari recounts as his earliest memory of the sport. Now, at sixteen years old, they compete regularly in international tournaments, flying to every corner of the globe to play against some of the world’s best young tennis players, and quite often prevailing. When asked about each of their biggest achievements so far in their careers, they both cited two thoroughly impressive feats, speaking to the sheer stature they hold in their age category. 

In the Summer of 2023, Puljic played in an international event in England that he looks back on as ‘the most defining moment of [his] career so far’, as he was matched up against an opponent who would go on to become world number one in the U14 category just a year later. Despite the formidable opposition, Puljic was undeterred, playing his game and ultimately coming out on top. He describes how this match, this performance and this result ‘proved to [him] the level that [he] could produce’, as he recognised his ability to compete with and triumph over the world’s best players in his age group. 

Meanwhile, Solari references a more recent success, as this summer he took part in an 18 and under Grade 3 tournament, challenging regionally against players two years older than him. And he relished the test, playing ‘some of the best tennis of [his] life’ and winning in straight sets in the final. This was actually one of three trophies he picked up during that week, a remarkable achievement, especially as he ‘always struggled with finals, because there’s such a big difference between being the winner and coming second’. But with that initial victory, he felt as if he ‘had finally broken through that mental barrier’, and more trophies have already started flooding in. 

These accomplishments cannot solely be attributed to the sheer talent of the two Lower Sixth students, but also the hours and hours of training undergone by them in the last twelve years must be taken into account as well. During term time, Solari trains twelve hours every week; an amalgamation of group sessions, individual lessons and just hitting with friends, in addition to four hours of strength and conditioning in order to meet the multifaceted requirements of elite tennis, as he mentions how it ‘demands fitness, agility, and explosiveness as well as skill.’ 

Puljic’s routine is similarly exacting, playing for ‘two or three hours every day after school, along with a few more hours on the weekends.’ Those countless hours every week, combined with the considerable time getting to and from training and matches, leaves scarce opportunity to complete homework and fulfill other school commitments. And so Puljic takes advantage of those various car rides and the rest breaks he is afforded in between sessions in order to get work done, quoting this constant dearth of time as ‘the most difficult thing about playing tennis to a high level as a junior’. But Solari commented on how the task of balancing his different sides of life can be enjoyable, ‘it keeps me busy and I get to spend my time doing things I love.’ 

And so Puljic and Solari are proof that our school lives can be stretched far beyond just classrooms, corridors and the 3G. Whether that be joining a club, starting a new sport, taking up a new hobby, any of these can be done both in and outside of school, all while getting on with the usual load of schoolwork. Of course they don’t have to be completed at an international standard, but with enough hard work and dedication, who knows? 

That is certainly on the horizon for these two, with their ambitions both lying in professional tennis in the future. More international tournaments and, of course, training, as well as potential scholarships abroad, sit as the next stepping stones for them. But on the opposite bank, perhaps not too far away, lies the dream of an ATP tour, and maybe even an appearance just a few miles down the road, at the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament.