In a candid conversation, professional tennis player Julian Cash offered a fascinating glimpse into his journey, from his formative years at Bede's School to the courts of Wimbledon. Cash's story is one of dedication, resilience, and the invaluable support he received along the way.

Taking you back to your Bede's days...What are some of your fondest memories from your time here?

My fondest memories are definitely the people I met. I'm still in touch with them today. The environment at Bede's allowed me to pursue my passion while still focusing on my studies. It opened many doors for me, and I wouldn't have been able to attend an American university afterward without the foundation Bede's provided.

How did Bede's contribute to your early development as a tennis player, and were there any specific coaches or facilities that were particularly impactful?

Julie Salmon, the tennis coach at Bede's, was amazing. She was a former pro herself and did an incredible job with the tennis team. She gave me tons of flexibility. We often went to play at indoor courts three times a week, which was fantastic. There were many good athletes at the school, and it's rare for a sport like tennis to have such support. Julie was instrumental; she helped me communicate with the school and ensured I had the flexibility I needed to pursue my goals. It was amazing.

This sounds very encouraging, showing you what you can achieve and that they understood what you needed to do to achieve it!

Absolutely. Bede's was great with that. There were so many people involved in different sports, doing all sorts of unique things. I remember one guy used to race cars – stuff like that just never really happens elsewhere. We were in an environment that truly allowed us to pursue our passions, which was amazing.

How did you find that balance between your academics and training?

It wasn't easy! The school helped a lot. I took one or two fewer GCSEs, which gave me a couple of extra free periods. Some days, I'd train in the morning and then come in late. They even let me mix and match some classes so I had math with three different teachers. This meant I could still get my education while keeping my mornings free for tennis. I'd come in at 10:30 and do a full day of school from there. It was difficult, and I look back now and wonder how I did it, but I guess when you're young, you just keep your head down and crack on with it. I had amazing people around me: my family helped a lot, Julie was there, and I had another coach I was working with. Everyone was in it together, I suppose, trying to help me navigate through all of that.

You've mentioned Julie and having people guide and mentor you. Were there any particular coaches or teaching staff that made a positive impact on your whole learning and training experience?

I had lots of great teachers at Bede's, I felt like a lot of my teachers were quite quirky and very understanding of what I was doing. When I think back now, I can see how tricky it must have been for them. It's not normal to have someone bouncing in and out of your class, and I'm sure other kids didn't always like it. But looking back now, all my teachers helped in one way or another; they were all very supportive.

When I was young, I was very ambitious. I really like the fact that I did it the way I did, meaning I went through a normal school environment rather than homeschooling, which many of my peers were doing at the time. It gave me a really nice balance. At the time, I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but in hindsight, it made my life a lot more normal. I was able to have friends. Yes, I sacrificed a lot of things – I missed birthdays and events – but I was able to have what I would deem a much more normal childhood. So, for me, it was important to stick with that.

If you were to give one piece of advice to current Bede's students who would like to go into professional sports, what would that be?

Just keep doing what you're doing. Keep working hard every day, and good things will come. In my opinion, it's worth it, and you'll be happier for it.

After leaving Bede's and heading to America, what were the immediate next steps you took in your tennis career?

American universities are very well set up for sports. They're kind of like "mini pro teams," especially with American football, baseball, and basketball. It's very much a stepping stone in some of those sports; you have to go to college or university to even have a chance at going into the main professional leagues. So, the whole system is designed to allow you to do both. They offer great scholarships, and my parents were keen for me to continue my education in the background. The chances of making it professionally are slim, and even if you are one of the best, many things can happen – injury, burnout, etc. They were always keen for my education to continue, but that was only up to 18. So, this was the first time I made that decision myself, which I probably never thought I would do, but I had noticed the benefit of it. There's so much pressure when your sport suddenly becomes your career, you're living it, and it changes your perspective on things a lot. University actually gave me another four years to grow up and get better at tennis, and I managed to get a degree. That took a lot of pressure off me mentally, and I loved my time there. It was definitely one of the best decisions I made. It's a really nice stepping stone into adulthood. It was on me to balance the social life, the tennis, and the school, and being around my teammates who were all doing the same thing and figuring it out together was an amazing experience. I would recommend it if anyone has the opportunity.

How did you decide on which university to go to?

I was fortunate that a lot of schools actually came to me. They're big into sports over there; they go out and recruit. So, a couple of schools contacted me, and then there are different agents who do it for a living, connecting foreign players in all sports to universities. I worked with a lady called Sarah Borwell, who helped me with all the paperwork and figuring out which schools I should consider. I went and visited a couple of them. It's quite a tough process, in a way, because you're going into the unknown and trusting people's word – speaking to people on the phone and them saying they'll do this, but obviously, they're trying to sell their school. So, it's a tricky process, and I would recommend for sure having someone like I did with Sarah to help you navigate that. Yes, you potentially pay a little bit of money for it, but I think you're more likely to end up at a school that you want to and can sometimes end up with a better scholarship because of it as well.

Can you describe some of the challenges you faced as you transitioned from a junior tennis player into the professional stages?

I had a very, I would say, kind of weird start to my career. I graduated from university, but I missed my last season there because I had a shoulder operation. That's why I didn't graduate initially in May. I dropped my classes, dealt with the operation, and was able to stay on and finish it the next semester, which fortunately they paid for because I was injured. So, I stayed out there a bit longer. While working through all of that, I actually thought that was going to be the end of my tennis career. I didn't recover from it very well at all. It was supposed to be about six months, and at six months, I could hardly hit a ball, so it was quite a stressful time. However, being in that environment, having teammates around me, coaches, and a lot of people I trusted, and still being able to see my surgeon and things like that, kept me ticking along. It was a very hard time for me; I genuinely thought that was the end of my tennis. So, I worked through that. By the time I was playing normal tennis again, it was probably 14 months after that operation, and then I got injured again. I had operations through COVID. It was a very slow start to my career; it wasn't plain sailing at all. I didn't really start until the latter stages of 2021; that's when I really felt like I started playing properly, and things took off. So, yeah, it was a slow start.

It must have been quite a worrying time for you to suddenly be impacted by these different injuries and the amount of time needed to heal. It's not just the physical healing; it's now suddenly the emotional healing – potentially your dream is at risk. That must have been quite a hard challenge to get through?

It was. I'd been fortunate in many ways that up to that point, I hadn't had many injuries, which was obviously great, but I had never dealt with it before either. I had small things that maybe kept me out for a couple of weeks or a month, but especially when you're young, that doesn't feel like a big deal. Sometimes I quite enjoyed it; I was like, "I'll just go to school and be normal for a few weeks." But that was very different when I was now trying to start playing and trying to make a career. It was mentally very difficult, and the injury still affects me today. It doesn't hinder me massively, but I still have small issues with it. It doesn't move the way it used to and probably never will.

When did you decide to specialize in playing doubles, and what led to that decision?

That was in 2022. There's part of me that wishes I had played singles for a little bit longer, but at the same time, I look where I am now, and I definitely don't regret it. But it would have been a nice thing. I had spent so long trying to make a singles career, but for me, it was a lot to do with the slow start. I was suddenly 25-ish, which in tennis isn't the youngest. I felt like I hadn't even played. I was getting lots of little injuries, and while I would get through them, my body wasn't feeling great. Then, in 2022, over the grass period, I did really well in doubles. My ranking jumped, and I was now able to play some events that I wasn't able to play before. So, with the guy I was playing with through that period, we decided to go to America and play the circuit below the main tour. We went over there for five months and pretty much played every week with the goal of trying to get into the Australian Open the following January. That was a crazy time. Again, we were lucky to have each other because we played so much tennis and traveled so much. We'd never done anything like it before and probably hope I won't do it again, but it was fun and served a purpose. I was happy with where I was at. I was making a better living, and I could see myself being in bigger events and taking titles. So, it seemed like the right thing to do, but it wasn't an easy decision either.

And it's now starting to pay off in a really positive way. As the saying goes "teamwork makes the dream work".

Yeah, for sure. I also think that everyone starts off trying to play singles because that's what gets the media coverage; it's what you see on TV. So, there isn't really anyone, unless they know someone who's done well in doubles, who really sets off with that. At the time, it felt like I'd tried to play singles the whole time, but actually, that's just everyone because that's the way tennis is set up. There's no coach who goes to a 10-year-old and says, "I think your skill set is actually quite good for doubles"; they will always push singles. So, it's inevitable that people think that, but actually, if I would have looked at how I played when I was even 10, my game style suits doubles way more. So, the reality is, it was probably where I was always going to go.

Who did you start playing doubles with on the grass in 2022?

I started with another British player called Henry Patten. At the time, we were ranked fairly low. We both started the year at around 700 in doubles. I think when we started playing together, we were about 400, and by the end of that year, we were 70. So, it was a very, very quick transition that we made together, and I think us being together helped an awful lot.

What do you think makes your partnership with Lloyd Glasspool so successful?

From my side, there are a few aspects to it. The first one is that I've had other partners, and I've learned a lot about how to work with other people in that environment. There's a lot more that goes into it than just you and your partner. You both have coaches, and there are a lot of dynamics that I never appreciated when I first went into it. I just thought it was tennis, and it would all be fine. So, just the fact that I've learned over the years has made a big difference. I now put effort into making the relationship work, as does he, and we spend a lot of time working on that stuff. But in terms of tennis, I think we have very similar game styles. We work off the same philosophy on the doubles court, which I think is really important. So, we buy into the same things. We're happy to lose certain matches in certain ways, knowing that in the long term, it's going to be better for us. I think we have similar goals in the sport as well. We both work very hard day in and day out, and I think that's why we've had two amazing tournaments to win.

So, you've had a fantastic season so far, winning at Queen's Club and your recent one at Eastbourne. How has that success felt, and what does it mean for your confidence heading into Wimbledon?

We've had a great year right from the outset. We won the first tournament we played this year, did well in the Australian Open, and have won a couple of other titles since. We've also had a particularly good grass season, which is always nice. It's kind of like forgetting Wimbledon; those two events are two that I've wanted to play as a kid. So, to win them both and in the same year was a very special moment. I had so many friends and family come to Queen's, so that was really special. We don't often get to celebrate after winning titles, as usually there's another tournament starting Monday, so we're jumping on a flight that evening. It was one of the first times I've really been able to celebrate properly. And then Eastbourne as well the week after. I wasn't too sure how it would go because I wasn't in the best way for the first round, but we managed to get through that and got better as the week went on. That was the tournament that I used to go to as a kid and watch, and it's where I fell in love with professional tennis. Yeah, another really surreal week, and it means a lot to win them. But going into Wimbledon, I think we're confident; we've beaten all of the pairs that contend for these titles throughout this year. So, we know we can do it, but the two tournaments are very tough. They're very draining, very emotional. There's a lot going on, and there's a lot of demand for tickets, media, and all that stuff. So, I think although we've had a lot of success so far, I think each week is its own thing, and it's important for us to reset and really take it match by match, not to get ahead of ourselves. Obviously, everyone's talking about doing the triple in England and all this stuff. There's obviously a lot of pressure going into it, but I think we're going about it match by match. We never assumed it was going to happen, but we knew it was within our capabilities. So, I think a lot of pairs are going to fear us, and I think we've got to use that to our advantage and take it match by match.

Looking at Wimbledon being the home of tennis, how does it feel for you that you've reached that stage in your career as a British player going to Wimbledon?

Yeah, it's very special. I remember the first time I played as a kid in the juniors. I was 16, I think, and I could hardly throw the ball up to serve; I was shaking. It completely took over my body. You still get that feeling, maybe not to the same degree, but it's an incredibly special place, and I actually enjoy it more and more each year. I was just there yesterday sorting out some bits. We took the day off, but I went in to see my physio, get my locker, and kind of sort everything out before I go to the site. I was just saying to him how much nicer it is coming here, doing what you need to do, and there are friendly faces around. I remember my first year, I was just so overwhelmed by everything, how big the place was. I was getting lost, and I didn't know anyone. It's one of those events that just stepping out on the court, even in round one, is special for sure.

What are your goals for Wimbledon? Are you wanting to walk away with the trophy?

Yeah, absolutely! It's been our goal in each of the slams so far. It will take a lot to get there for sure. I think you need things to go your way; you need a bit of luck, maybe the draw to fall in the right way, but we know we have the level. That is absolutely the goal: to go and win it. But we have got to take it match by match, and there will be a lot of battles on the way. I also think in our normal events throughout the year, it's four matches to win it. In the Masters, it's five, and in the Grand Slams, it's six. So the draw is obviously a lot bigger, which means there's a lot more to do. So I even think about it sometimes in the normal tournaments, it's four matches. If you're at the start and you're like, "I really want to do well this week," and you think about going through the whole draw, it just seems quite overwhelming. We're going to have to beat them, and it's just a lot, and actually, sometimes that pair that maybe you didn't want to play doesn't even win, and so many things change. So, I think especially at the start of a Grand Slam, if you look at the whole thing, "I want to be at the end of this," it's so long. We've made our way through some of the two-week Masters, and you feel like you're there for a month. So, you really do have to take it day by day, and I would even say that with the training days, we get days off sometimes between the matches, and even on those days, I think you just have to think about what you're doing that day, otherwise it is overwhelming and kind of seems impossible to reach the end. You just have to go step by step.

What does a stereotypical training day look like for you?

It really depends. The last two weeks were very full-on for us; we didn't have a day off. Yesterday, we didn't hit at all. Today, we're just doing an hour, so we're keeping it quite light. We're fortunate we know which day we start, so we can kind of plan accordingly a little bit better, but a relatively normal day would be two hours in the gym, warm-up, cool-down, potentially going to see the physios and recover. Whenever my friends come with me, they're kind of surprised how long it all takes. If I just tell someone, "Yeah, we practice two hours a day," they kind of think, "Okay, so you practice 12 till 2. What do you do before and after?" But somehow, you can go to the site at 10:00 a.m. and not get back until late. Not that I complain about that; I know it's a nice working day for a lot of people, but yeah, the days disappear when you take care of all the small things and go about it properly. It's the small things that take a lot of time.

Looking back at your entire journey from Bede's to Wimbledon, what's the one piece of advice you'd give your younger self?

One piece of advice would probably be pretty much what I just said in the sense of not looking too far into the future. Through all the good and the bad, there will be a lot of ups and downs. I think you just have to enjoy the moment you're in. Like I even say now, one of my friends just messaged me that she's injured right now, and I said, "Enjoy the time at home." With all the good and the bad, there's always an upside to both. I think you just have to enjoy those moments, whatever it throws at you, and know that you'll be stronger for the hard moments. So yeah, the main thing is to enjoy it. I've been fortunate that I do enjoy tennis. There are a lot of people on the tour who don't; it's very much a job for them. And I think it's important to work hard, and I would say the same for coaches with their clients if they're coaching kids: put effort into making it fun and making sure that they enjoy it because that's ultimately what will get you through all the hard times. I never thought I would be 25 and only then kind of, let's say, "break through" onto the tour. It was a lot longer than I thought. If you had told me when I was 12 that I had another 13 years to go, I would have been like, "Maybe I'll stop now." So yeah, it's just enjoying each day and trying to enjoy the sport as much as possible.

Julian's journey underscores the profound impact of supportive environments, dedicated mentors, and unwavering personal drive. His story serves as an inspiration, reminding us that even amidst setbacks, passion and perseverance can lead to remarkable achievements on the world stage.