British tennis has rare talent in making - and she's from Ruislip, aged 14

Ruislip tennis coach Tim Blackman is tipping Martina Paladini Jennings for a great future in the sport.

Martina, also from Ruislip, is Middlesex No.1 and competed in the county championships this year at under-16s and under-18s, winning both age groups without dropping a set.

She then played in her first Aegon Ladies British Tour at Paddington, where she was the youngest competitor and reached the semi-finals.

Impressed? Here’s the best bit - she’s only 14!

Martina attends Ruislip High School and, while most teenagers are fixated on TV and the internet, she heads down to either Ryefield Primary School or RAF Northolt five times a week to work on her fitness and tactical play with coach Blackman.

His coaching career started in 1989 and he has sporting history running through his veins, with father Sylvanus a former Great British weightlifter who competed in three Olympics.

Blackman believes Martina has the raw talent and potential to succeed at the highest level.

“Without a doubt, she is one of the best prospects I’ve ever come across. I’ve never been so excited about a player in my entire career. She has all the tools,” he said.

“She’s a real physical presence, and she’s still only 14. Everyone thinks she’s 19 as she’s very, very strong.

“She’s got a touch of Serena Williams about her. She wants to win, and I think that is very important in our sport.

“She works like a professional, and she’s a pleasure to coach.”

Martina has ben advised to enter the Orange Bowl in Florida this December. It’s one of the most prestigious tournaments for under-14s, where many professionals, such as Andre Agassi, first emerged.

While one of the many concerns for young sporting stars is a fear of exhaustion, Blackman is keen to stress that burnout and over-exposure to tennis is not an option for Martina, given the Women Tennis Association’s (WTA) stringent rules on young players.

“If she does reach the main tour, she can only play a certain number of events because of her age,” he stressed. “In the past, there have been professional junior players who have burned out before they are 16, so the WTA decided to put a cap on how many matches they can play a year.

“She’d only be allowed to play up to eight tour matches a year.”

For now, though, Martina will compete at another Aegon British Tour in Nottingham, before travelling to Belgium next month in an International Tennis Federation tournament, where the cream of Europe will assemble.