City youngsters Jay Clarke and Sam Ferguson have booked Great Britain's place in the International Tennis Federation's World Junior Tennis competition.
The pair were selected to represent their country in the Tennis Europe Under-14 Summer Cup, following strong performances on the continent for the past six months.
This included being part of the three-strong British team which won the Tennis Europe Winter Cup in February.
Clarke and Ferguson, both 13, were highly praised by Lawn Tennis Association national junior coach Richard Plews after his side finished third in the Summer Cup, winning four of their six rounds.
Together with fellow Brit Daniel Bennett, they beat opponents from Serbia and Romania in the qualifying stages of the tournament, held in Spain.
This landed them a place in the final of the cup, also in the holiday resort of Magaluf, where wins against Turkey and Switzerland were enough to secure the team a world final berth.
Their losses came against Spain in the qualifying stages and Germany in the cup finals.
Plews said: "The spirit of the boys was fantastic over the two stages of the tournament and they worked very hard. There were some close matches throughout
"The competition was on clay and most boys that age from this country are not that comfortable on clay but Sam really seems to take to it.
"Rafael Nadal is his idol and Sam enjoys playing his style of tennis, so clay is ideal for him.
"As for Jay, he has great vision and he strikes the ball really well. He's the European number one in his age group and he played some very clever games during the competition.
"It was a really strong week's performance from him.
"The boys were playing in typical southern-European conditions, where the courts are very fast and hard, and they will have taken a lot from the experience.
"These kind of competitions are all about development for the youngsters more than the outcome but that did not stop the boys wanting to win and being genuinely disappointed when they lost.
"They showed that they can compete against the best in Europe and their reward is to see what the rest of the world has to offer."
Each round comprised two singles and one doubles rubber and Great Britain's first tie in their Zone D qualifying group was against Serbia, who they beat 3-0.
Ferguson, of Spondon, took a 6-3, 6-2 win against Aleksandar Nedeljkovic and Clarke beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-1, then joined Bennett to win the doubles.
They also dispatched Romania 3-0 in the second round – Ferguson with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sorin Andrei Iordache and Clarke, of Normanton, with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Calin Manda. This time, it was Ferguson and Bennett taking the doubles.
But they failed to take a match against Spain in the final qualifying round, although they had done enough to reach the finals.
Ferguson lost 3-6, 5-7 to David Catala Juan, while Clarke was beaten 2-6, 7-6 (1), 2-6 by Eduard Guell Bartrina. Ferguson also lost the doubles with Bennett.
In the cup finals, Ferguson dispatched Ergi Kirkin 6-3, 6-1, Clarke triumphed 6-2, 6-4 over Alp Sentay and Clarke and Bennett won the doubles for a 3-0 success over Turkey.
But they lost by the same scoreline against Germany – Ferguson losing 6-1, 3-6, 1-6 to Tim Ruehl and Clarke 6-3, 6-7 (5), 5-7 to Louis Wessels, before Clarke and Bennett were beaten in the doubles.
In the consolation round, Great Britain claimed third place in the tournament by winning 2-1 against Switzerland.
This time, Clarke and Ferguson – ranked ninth in Europe – teamed up to take the doubles, while Clarke clinched an important 6-4, 7-6 (6) win against European number two Marko Osmakcic and Bennett lost his singles match.
Plews said 16 teams were likely to compete in the World Junior Tennis competition, after 63 boys' and girls' teams attempted to qualify.
He also said Ferguson and Clarke's performances had earned them wild cards into some International Tennis Federation junior tournaments.
"We just hope the boys continue to raise their junior profile and take that next step on to the lower level of the senior circuit." Plews added.
"We firmly believe this is the way forward, to give the boys exposure and get them playing on the continent against others their age.
"Sam and Jay will now have that little bit more experience, although they are already doing so well by being in Europe's top 10."
Courtesy of Derby Telegraph