WANBOROUGH wheelchair tennis ace Louise Hunt says she cannot wait for her Wimbledon dream to become a reality.

London 2012 Paralympian Hunt is to make her Grand Slam debut at SW19 this week after being handed a wildcard into the women’s doubles draw, which starts at the semi-final stage.

But with that competition not due to get under way until Friday, Hunt will have had to wait more than three weeks from the announcement of her involvement before she finally gets out on the hallowed lawns of the All England Club.

“It’s getting to that point now where it all happened so quickly and now it feels really slow,” said the 24-year-old.

“I’m just thinking 'come on, how are we not there yet? Surely we should be there by now.'

“I’m getting excited because all the little bits are coming together. I have sorted out practice courts and all the planning is done and now I’m just desperately waiting to play, I just want to get on the grass.

“I actually can’t wait. I’m really nervous but it’s quite a good nervous now, an excited nervous. It’s still all new but it’s the next step in my career, which I have been waiting on for a while. It should be really good.

“I’m actually going down on Monday to watch, which will be nice. I go with my mum every year for her birthday and then I am going back on Wednesday to train. I’m definitely getting into the spirit of things now.”

For Hunt, the chance to do battle on the most famous courts in the world will be the culmination of a lengthy quest, laid out after the honour of competing at a home Paralympics.

Since the thrill of London three years ago Hunt has steadily improved and heads to Wimbledon in the midst of her best-ever season, enjoying career-high rankings in both singles and doubles.

“If I’m honest I cried when I found out I had a wildcard, I did get a bit emotional,” said Hunt.

“It was like when I found out I had got into London because the Paralympics was the first aim for me and then a Grand Slam, with Wimbledon in particular, was the next one. It’s another tick off the list.

“For me there have been a couple of things, and London was a big aim and then Wimbledon was another as well.

“This year I just really wanted to play my first Grand Slam and there wasn’t really one pinpointed but for my first one to be Wimbledon is like two dreams rolled into one. It was one of my aims for the year and something on my bucket list as well.

“It’s just awesome and the timing is great, especially with the qualifying programme for the Rio (Paralympic) Games next year.”