BOB and Mike Bryan might be tennis’ most famous twins but Beaconhurst School starlets Lewis and Calum Bowmaker are hoping to challenge them one day, despite falling just short of booking their spot at a prestigious Wimbledon tournament.

The 13-year-old duo are considered promising talents and looked to prove so at the HSBC Road to Wimbledon Scotland Regional Qualifier at The Gannochy National Tennis Centre in Stirling.

The Bowmakers were playing for a place at August’s HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 & Under Challenge at the All England Club, but Calum lost to Charlie Miller in round one, while Lewis beat Joshua Kean before going down to Ross Martin in the quarter-finals.

Both twins are members at Bridge of Allan Tennis Club and, despite falling short of a memorable outing at the famous SW19 courts this time, Lewis is adamant we haven’t seen the last of him.

Lewis said: “This is my first year competing at the event and I definitely want to be back again next year. I’ve never played at Wimbledon before but it would be an amazing experience because it is such a great club. It would be awesome.” Even if the youngsters, who live in Bo’ness, had advanced in the competition, they couldn’t have met until the final – and Calum admits that was something of a relief.

Calum explained: “Me and Lewis are pretty much the same in terms of tennis ability – we always swap around who beats each other and we normally do about the same in tournaments. We sometimes play in tournaments but normally we’re in opposite sides of the draw. That’s quite good because I don’t really like playing against him to be honest.” The HSBC Road to Wimbledon 14 & under Challenge began in 2002 and is the largest junior tournament in the UK, involving some 850 clubs, parks and schools with youngsters bidding to reach the national final at the All England Club.

And, although the Bowmakers failed to advance to Wimbledon, former British number one Tim Henman believes they are still very much ones to watch out for in the future.

Henman added: “Players are always disappointed when they miss out on qualifying for the HSBC Road to Wimbledon National Final and a chance to play on the grass courts at Wimbledon. Hopefully Lewis and Calum will be inspired to enter the event next year and who knows maybe even to play at The Championships as professional players in the future.” The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 & Under Challenge is the UK’s largest national junior grass court tournament and forms part of HSBC’s investment in the stars of the future.