Jay Clarke has been named as the national Lawn Tennis Association's junior player of the month.
The Normanton starlet received the award for his performance in May, when he won three TennisEurope under-14 tournaments – two of them back-to-back – and reaching the top spot in the European ranking system.
He won the first title in Romania, beating fellow Derby youngster Sam Ferguson, the second in Italy and a third in Slovenia – again playing Ferguson, who also took a title against Clarke in between.
Tennis Europe has also named Clarke, 13, as "the player to watch" following his "perfect fortnight" in Bucharest and Rome.
Ferguson, meanwhile, has returned to the UK and won the AEGON Clay Court Championships 2012.
Named top seed in the under-14 section, the Spondon junior beat Matthew Story 6-2, 6-1 in his opening match at the Queenswood Tennis Club, in Hertfordshire.
Wildcard Barnaby Smith also fell to him for the loss of just one game, before Ferguson received a walkover against another wild card, Harry Simpson.
He reached the final with a 6-3, 6-2 win against fifth seed Joe Woolley, setting up a meeting with third seed Alexis Canter.
Ferguson claimed the silverware after two hours, losing the opening set but coming back to eventually beat Canter 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Derbyshire's highest-ranked female tennis player, Yasmin Clarke, continues to make great strides in her attempt to reach the AEGON British Tour Masters.
The 21-year-old from Normanton is second in the list of points scorers, with the top 14 invited to compete at the Masters in December.
Clarke's latest success came at the AEGON British Tour in Nottingham.
The second seed beat qualifier Brigit Folland 6-4, 6-4 in her first match before seeing off seventh seed Julia Matojan 6-1, 6-2.
Clarke then beat fifth seed Natasha Hillyer 6-2, 6-2 to set up a final against fourth seed Stephanie Cornish, who she beat 7-5, 7-6 (7/1).
Courtesy of Derbyshire Telegraph