Three promising juniors have been chosen to follow in the footsteps of Grand Slam winners by representing Great Britain at the prestigious Les Petits As tournament in France.
Sam Ferguson, Jay Clarke and Tiran Sanghera will be among 128 boys from 51 nations competing at the Tennis Europe event – which is considered the European equivalent of the famous Orange Bowl, in Florida.
Previous champions have included Spanish number one Rafael Nadal, former American star Michael Chang, Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis, of Switzerland, and Kim Clijsters, of Belgium.
Sixteen-time major winner Roger Federer, of Switzerland, world number one Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, and Britain's highest-ranked player Andy Murray also competed in the tournament as juniors.
Djokovic and Murray, who were both finalists at the Australian Open last year, first played each other at the tournament as 13-year-olds, with the Scot emerging the winner.
Clarke, Ferguson and Sanghera, who are all 13 and represent Derbyshire, will travel to Tarbes in south-western France for the Les Petits As competition – which means "small champions" in English.
Ferguson, of Spondon, who is due to compete in several Tennis Europe tournaments over the next two months, said he was most looking forward to the event.
"People say it is one of the biggest tournaments on the calendar because you're competing against some of the best players in the world for your age group," he said.
"There's 64 players in the main draw and, because I've never been there to compete before, I'm excited to see what it will be like. The venue itself sounds quite interesting as well.
"I'm hoping to make a really good start to the year and, while I'm preparing in pretty much the normal way, I've got a more set routine now than I do before the start of each match to help me get ready.
"I've then got some other tournaments before and after Tarbes, including some team competition which always has a real buzz, so I'm looking forward to it."
His dad, Graeme, added: "This is the start of a very busy six months for Sam and Tarbes is going to be a big part of that.
"It's a renowned competition and it always draws quite a crowd. Although it's a Tennis Europe event, it usually draws in Americans, Canadians and lots of other countries too.
"So the fact we have more than one boy from Derbyshire in the competition is pretty impressive too."
Before playing in Les Petits As, which runs from January 23-29, all three boys will warm-up at the AEGON Junior International Teen Tennis event in Bolton. Both competitions are for under-14s.
Clarke, of Normanton – who, along with Ferguson has been nominated for boys player of the year at the Derbyshire Tennis awards next month – said: "I've been training really hard because it's one of the biggest tournaments of the year for our age group.
"My sister, Yasmin, also competed there and I'm feeling really good about it. I'm looking forward to playing at Bolton and then going to France."
His dad, Earol, said: "Jay has been working really hard and has shot up the European rankings in the past year. He also won an international tournament in Wrexham so he's hoping to build on that.
"Tarbes is where all the top juniors come and play but it is also a place where there is the potential for youngsters to get sponsors and to build on their game for when they turn 14.
"This is why 13 is such a massive age and an important time in the sport because, if you get things right, that's when you start playing ITF competitions.
"I really hope Jay can do well and that he gets a lot from the experience in France."
Tournament website