Former British number one Chris Wilkinson says three Derbyshire boys have proved they are among the top players in Europe after he led them to victory at one of the continent's biggest indoor team events.
Jay Clarke, Sam Ferguson and Marcus Walters were all chosen to represent Great Britain at the Tennis Europe Under-14 Winter Cup finals, held in Correggio, Italy.
The trio, all 13, reached the tournament earlier this month with nine match wins between them against players from Slovenia, Spain and Turkey at the qualifying rounds in Ankara, Turkey.
They joined seven other countries in the finals – Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine – where teams competed in a knockout draw and played two singles matches and one doubles to determine the winner of each round.
Great Britain, the number two seeds, lost only two of eight rubbers to claim the title, beating Germany, third seeds Hungry and fourth seeds Sweden.
Wilkinson, 42 – who represented GB at the Davis Cup, reached a career-high world ranking of 114 and got to the third round at Wimbledon four times in the 1990s – said he thoroughly enjoyed working with the "mentally tough" youngsters.
"This competition is for the top kids in Europe and the British boys played very well," said Wilkinson.
"Their confidence grew as they progressed in the tournament and I think they took a lot from the fact they had reached the finals, which is an achievement in itself.
"By the end of the competition, they had a lot of believe in what they were doing and, as a team, they gelled really well. I don't think it mattered that they were the second seeds because, at their age, those sort of things don't really matter.
"Sam was the number one player for the team and he is a really good physical player. He has good motivation and he is mentally tough – that's where his strength lies.
"Jay is also very mentally strong and can play really aggressively when he wants to. Marcus didn't actually need to play for the finals but he was a valuable member of the team for the qualifiers."
Great Britain had an usual start to the competition, going 1-0 up after Valentin Guenther retired more than an hour into his rubber against Clarke. The German won the first set 6-1 and was 5-4 down in the second.
Samuel Sippel then levelled matters by beating Ferguson 6-0, 6-3 but the Spondon youngster teamed up with Clarke to beat Sippel and Louis Wessels 7-6(3), 7-5 in the doubles.
In the semi-finals against Hungary, Clarke won 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-0 against Akos Kotorman and Ferguson 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 against Mate Valkuszboth in their singles matches. Their doubles match did not need to be played.
Clarke then put Great Britain ahead in the final against Sweden with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Filip Malbasic in the opening singles, before Mikael Yemer levelled the match by beating Ferguson 6-2, 6-3.
In the deciding doubles, Malbasic and Yemer seized the advantage by taking the first set 6-4 but Clarke and Ferguson mounted a fierce comeback, winning the second 6-1. The British pair then carried the momentum into the final set, clinching the title by taking it 6-3.
Wilkinson said: "In the final, it all came down the doubles and the boys produced a good win.
"It was certainly a very important moment but, throughout the qualifiers and the finals, there were lots of those where the boys managed to swing things to their advantage.
"We did preparation camps before we went to the tournament and I was on court with them all the way through, talking to them at the change overs and so on, and I think it helped.
"It was difficult to have much of a celebration after they won, when they are only young, but I took them out for a steak and a coke afterwards and I think they were happy.
"This will give them confidence and what they need to do now is take what they have achieved with them into their regular tournaments. They need to remember they played against the best kids in Europe and they won."
Courtesy of the Derby Telegraph