In 1947 Angela Mortimer was captain of the team which won the Plymouth Interschools’ Championship．From the moment she stepped forward to receive the silver cup, she was determined to become a Wimbledon Champion． Encouraged by her school championship success, Angela decided that she should have proper coaching．She heard that there was a good tennis coach at Torquay, a Mr．Roberts, who was prepared to give free tennis lessons to promising youngsters under twelve years of age and living in the Torquay area．The fact that Angela was over fifteen did not stop her．One Saturday, she made the forty-mile journey from Plymouth to Torquay and introduced herself to Mr．Roberts．Arthur Roberts was not impressed．He played a few shots to Angela and then told her directly that she knew nothing about the game and was too old to learn．He also reminded her that she lived in Plymouth, which could hardly be considered in the Torquay area． If Arthur Roberts thought he had got rid of Angela, he was very much mistaken．For her part Angela had been greatly impressed by Mr．Roberts．She made up her mind that she was not too old to learn tennis and that Arthur Roberts was the man to teach her．However, her school certificate examination was appearing ahead and she was determined to work hard．Although the headmaster wanted her to stay on at school for another year before taking her examination, Angela begged to be allowed to sit．She surprised everyone by passing with credit in five subjects． Angela then had a stroke of luck．She managed to persuade her family to move nearer to Torquay．Despite what had taken place at their last meeting, Angela properly presented herself to Arthur Roberts and asked him for free coaching．Arthur’s welcome was not a warm one．His time was fully occupied in coaching some promising young players．However, he had to admire Angela．Whatever else she lacked, she was obviously a girl of courage and determination．Arthur liked these qualities in a pupil．“You can play against the wall,” he said, “and if you improve I might help you．” Angela’s heart leapt with joy．“I’ll show him,” she said to herself．“I will certainly show him．” | 
