Lily Mills with Mukember Musa, her performance coach at Islington Tennis Club

TENNIS ace Lily Mills is set to share the court with some of her heroes, including Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.

The 23-year-old Special Olympics Camden athlete has been selected to compete at the Australian Open Person with Intellectual Impairment Championships, which will be held in Melbourne in January. The competition, which is organised by Tennis Australia, will bring together the top-ranked players from Virtus, a global organisation that governs, advocates and promotes elite sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

A line-up featuring eight men and eight women will compete on the same hallowed courts as tennis luminaries in what has been described as “a profound morale boost for athletes with intellectual impairments”.

Lily, who lives in Drayton Park, Highbury, said she was “thrilled and excited” to be invited to Oz to take on some of the best players in the world.

But her dream of playing Down Under rests with her supporters, and she launched a GoFundMe appeal on Sunday hoping to raise £9,000 to help cover the costs of flying the flag for Great Britain.

Lily’s mum Tallulah, who was a teaching assistant at Drayton Park Primary School for 16 years before leaving to become Lily’s full-time carer, explained: “We are hoping that Lily can be in Melbourne a week prior to the championship so that she has time to acclimatise to Australia’s summer heat and the timezone difference, and prepare properly for what would be her toughest challenge yet.

“But it’s so expensive. We’ve looked up flights that include a couple of stops along the way and they’re already over £3,000. On top of that we will have to pay for extra accommodation, as the event organisers will provide four or five nights during the competition. We will also need food, and there might be additional training costs and travel costs.

“I’m her carer, I don’t have that kind of money. The truth is, if we don’t raise the money Lily won’t be able to go. But this is her dream, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in a Grand Slam in Australia – how can I say ‘No, you’re not going?’”

It’s a real catch-22 situation. As if raising the money at such late notice isn’t difficult enough, it comes with the added stress of prices for flights and accommodation soar­ing by the day as tennis fans flock to Melbourne for the Australian Open.

Tallulah added: “We’re looking for as much support as we can get, whether it’s donating to this fundraiser, or sharing the link on your social media channels. The money donated will have a direct impact on Lily’s life.”

Within days of being born in 2000, Lily became seriously ill and was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with meningitis and septicaemia. Doctors later discovered that she also had a one-in-45,000 condition called galacto­semia, which prevents her body from breaking down sugar galactose, causing it to build up to toxic levels if left untreated. She is now on a strict lactose-free diet.

These early complica­tions left Lily with a number of cognitive impairments, including learning disabilities, short-term memory loss, poor coordination and a slight tremor.

However, that hasn’t stopped her from becoming robust with a tennis racket. Boasting a glittering CV for both club and country, Lily returned from represen­ting Team GB at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin over the summer with a gold medal in the mixed doubles and a bronze in the women’s singles event.

She has also previously clinched double gold at the 2019 Special Olympic World Games in Abu Dhabi, and scooped two silver medals at the National Summer Games, which were held in Sheffield in 2017.

Looking ahead to Australia, Lily said: “Oh my God, I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. I really want to meet Djokovic, he’s one of my favourite players.”

• To support Lily with her Australian dream visit www.gofundme.com