Tennis ace Freddy Murray says support from Boost Drinks and SportsAid is propelling him to places he’s never been before.

The Belfast star first represented Ireland at Under-12 level and is now aspiring to become a mainstay of his country’s Davis Cup team in years to come. 

His belief that he can make it to the top has been bolstered by support from Boost Drinks, whose grant earlier this year helped him to travel to Romania and Spain over the summer as he contested in his first senior tournaments.

“The funding is really great,” said Murray, whose support sees him benefit from a company born over 20 years ago with a vision of energising everybody in every way and is committed to supporting its local communities, whether this be fuelling them with its range of Sports, Energy, Iced Coffee, and Protein Drinks, or by getting more involved to help them achieve their goal. 

“It helps because I don't come from a very wealthy family so without the support and sponsorship, I wouldn't be able to travel and do the things I've done.

“It helped me travel to Romania and Spain during the summer, even though it didn't go quite as I wanted from a playing perspective.

“The players I came up against were very good but it was a really great experience.

“That's what I need to do to improve – play better events and play better people.”

SportsAid supports over 1,000 athletes each year – in the early stages of their career – by providing them with a financial award to help towards training and competition costs.

These athletes are Great Britain's brightest sporting prospects, nominated to SportsAid by the national governing bodies of more than 60 sports based on set criteria from each.

Murray, 19, only started to believe that he could forge a career in the sport around the time he first represented Ireland.

And he says it is a source of great reassurance to know he is now backed by such a renowned organisation in Boost Drinks.

“Boost's support is great and is real recognition that my hard work is paying off,” he added.

“I started playing tennis purely to enjoy it – but now I want more out of it than to just play for fun.

“It’s great to be noticed and recognised, it’s given me confidence to keep on training hard and to keep on doing what I’m doing.”

Boost Drinks provides young athletes with financial support, recognition, and personal development opportunities through its partnership with SportsAid. Each athlete receives a £1,000 award which contributes towards costs such as travel, accommodation, and equipment – for more information visit www.boostdrinks.com