Help could be given to rising island stars

A TOP LTA national training coach has flown in to have a look at two of Guernsey's rising stars. Rob Booth is responsible for tennis development in all of the counties along the south coast from Cornwall to Sussex.

He had a flying visit yesterday as he put Dom McLuskey and Heather Watson through their paces in a two-hour intensive training session before he left in the afternoon to return home to Bournemouth.

Both young Sarnians have dreams of making it in the tennis world.

Sixteen-year-old McLuskey is currently studying at the ISP Tennis Academy in Nice while 14-year-old Watson has just finished her second year at the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, US.

Booth knows Watson but this was the first time he had seen McLuskey play after hearing about him in the UK.

'They are good players and are good prospects,' said Booth.

'Heather we know well, she's one of the top players in her age group in the country. We've known about her for a while.

'Dom is a good player and he's making a commitment as he's at the French academy. He's going to have a good game.'

One purpose of the visit was to see if the LTA could help the duo with training or when they travel to foreign tournaments.

'There is the possibility of the LTA offering some financial help as long as we can,' said Booth.

Watson has a busy couple of months ahead as she takes part in a number of ranking tournaments in the UK.

McLuskey will represent Guernsey in the KIA National League next weekend before going back to France for a summer of tournaments.

He enjoyed his time with Booth.

'It was a good session,' he said.

'It's good to see different drills.'