An Ipswich-born tennis coach has played a key role in British number one Cameron Norrie's remarkable Wimbledon run.

James Trotman, 43, started playing tennis at Sproughton Tennis Club alongside his sister. Brian Samuel, said he was remembered at the club, as being a "very, very good" tennis player and a "really nice young lad".

At around the age of 10, Chris Daynes was ranked second in the county behind Trotman.

Daynes, who now works as a tennis coach, said: "When I first started, when I was probably eight or nine, he was an unbelievable player.

"'I'd say at that stage he was the number one in the country. Even at that age, he was a fantastic player. Very natural, big-hitting and with a good all-court game.

"He moved, probably when he was about 11 or 12, to the national training centre and lived there."

In the 1990s, Trotman went on to have success at the top level of junior tennis, winning doubles grand slams at Wimbledon and at the Australian Open.

His senior career was cut short by illness after just one Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon in 1997 when he went out in the first round of the doubles.

But since retiring from playing, he has gone on to coach world-class players.

Among them is Cameron Norrie, who lost in four sets against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-final yesterday.

Trotman was the coach who worked with Norrie after he made the decision a decade ago to switch allegiance to Great Britain, moving more than 10,000 miles from his home in Auckland, New Zealand to London.

Norrie opted to continue his peripatetic tennis journey by moving to the US and studying at Texas Christian University but has kept Trotman as part of his team throughout.

“It was a massive change for him, leaving home, it was a huge decision,” said Trotman.

“Honestly, if you could see that 17-year-old now compared to the person you talk to and the clarity he has on who he is and what he wants to become and how he’s going to go about it, it’s phenomenal.

“I’ve been around a lot of very good players. Just watching Cam’s pre-season training for the last four, five years, the work he puts through his body, how much he’s pushing himself, there wouldn’t be too many players that are doing a similar kind of job. It’s pretty incredible.”

Trotman has taken over as full-time coach of Britain’s best young hope, Jack Draper, and now only works with Norrie for a few weeks each year.