10-year-old tennis player Mark Rainnie just keeps winning

Ten-year-old Mark Rainnie of Charlottetown is turning heads in the tennis world.

Rainnie has been bringing home trophies regularly in regional events and he recently won three international tournamentsat the Casely International Championships in Miami, Florida.

"I was just hoping to make it to either the semis or the finals of every one, I wasn't expected to win any, but somehow I won them all," said Rainnie, whose father is Bruce Rainnie, host of CBC News Compass.

"It was a great experience all around, he did really well we were really proud of him," added his mom, KendraMacGillivray, who travelled to Florida with him.

Serve of up to 93 mph

Rainnie's coach, Brian Hall described him asan excellent athlete with exceptional tennis skills.

"He's become quite fast, and also quite powerful, he's probably got one of the fastest serves of a ten-year-old anywhere." said Hall. Hall said about a year ago they clocked Rainnie's serve at being 93 mph, and it's faster now.

"At ten years of age and to be hitting close to 100 mph is huge," said Hall.

Practice makes perfect

Rainnie practices about twenty hours a week at indoor courts in Charlottetown. His family credits his coach for the 10-year-old's success, but Hall said Mark puts in the work and is dedicated to the sport.

"To have somebody who's doing all the work it's the dream," said Hall.

Markalways has a racquet nearbyat home, ready to hit balls (lightly) against the wall to work on his racquet skills.

"He just keeps his racquet out, he'llpick it up any time of the day he'll hit a few balls against the wall,"said MacGillivray. "I think it's just for the sheer joy of playing tennis, he just loves it."

Rainnie has plans to go pro.

"To become number one in the world, I want to try and do that," he said.

"The dream for me, and I think for him too, is taking it all the way," said Hall.

Rainnie will be competing again this coming weekend at the Atlantic Tennis Alliance event being held in Charlottetown.

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