MALVERN tennis ace Mark Rowe has been selected to play for Great Britain in the men’s over 50s team in the World Team Championships in the spring in Florida, USA.

Rowe, whose form has soared this last year, had climbed to world number 11 on the ITF (International Tennis Federations) list and took over the number one spot in GB in the over 45s and over 50s list at the end of last year.

Having won the GB men’s over 45s clay court title at Bournemouth last year and the South of England over 45s men’s title at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, too, it made selection possible.

In 2014, Rowe represented England at the Four Nations Cup in Dublin, Ireland, and, following on from this, was considered and then selected for the GB team.

The over 50s team to represent GB is captain Jeremy Bates of Surrey, Chris Hearn (Buckinghamshire), Rowe (Herefordshire and Worcestershire) and Peter Wingrove (Devon).

Rowe said: “I am over the moon to be selected as it is the highest accolade one can achieve in GB men’s veterans’ tennis.”

The tennis enthusiast will have seen British ace Andy Murray threaten a miracle comeback against Roger Federer before his Australian Open challenge ended in the quarter-finals this week.

Federer served for a straight-sets win in the third and held two match points in the tie-break but Murray showed tenacity to take the match into a fourth set.

However, in only his seventh match after back surgery, he ran out of steam and Federer eventually clinched a 6-3, 6-4 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 victory.