Regarded as more of a hard court player, Rhett has adapted well to grass during the last two to three years. He has returned to Europe every year for the past three years to play the Junior International Clay circuit tournaments, his mother explained.
A product of Bledisloe and Hereworth Schools in Hawke's Bay, Purcell finished his education at Sacred Heart College in Auckland last year where he was a prefect and sports captain. His mother is a teacher at Sacred Heart and his father Mike, a former Hawke's Bay, Canterbury, Wanganui and Central Districts representative who also played at the Nelson Park and Greendale clubs, is the principal at Henderson High School.
A former New Zealand under-14 rep, Purcell, is coached by David Brewster and Neil Carter in Britain. Carter was a Hawke's Bay and Nelson Park No1 in the late 1970s before transferring to Wellington.
When Purcell was in the New Zealand team he was coached by former New Zealand Davis Cup team captain James Greenhalgh.
While the right-handed Purcell is the first product of Hawke's Bay's age group tennis system to play at Wimbledon, the late Owen Bold has the honour of being the first player with Hawke's Bay representative connections to play at one of the world's most prestigious tournaments.
Bold was a Hutt Valley representative when he played on centre court when he reached the last 16 in mixed doubles play with an English partner in 1947 at the age of 28. He was beaten in the first round of the singles and the second round of the doubles.
