"ACE!" -- That's what tennis mad Jessica Ashworth said when she found out she had been named the North West's biggest tennis fan.

Eleven-year-old Jessica, from Warton, smashed the competition and won £250-worth of tennis lessons.

Now she is in with a chance of winning the national prize, a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a coaching session with one of the game's top pros on centre court at the Brighton Samsung Open in November. Jessica said it was so long since she entered the competition, she'd totally forgotten about it.

"I really had no idea. I was coming home in the car from school with my mum and she was saying 'There's something come through the post for you'," said Jessica. "And I was having all these guesses like, was it tickets for Wimbledon and all sorts of things. But she wouldn't tell me. In the end I said that I gave up and didn't care. "But when I opened the envelope and found out what I had won it was quite a shock -- but fantastic."

Jessica is a member of both Wrea Green and South Shore tennis clubs and has been playing for around seven years.

The competition was organised as part of the Lawn Tennis Association Yoplait Search 2000 which aims to raise people's awareness of tennis.

Entrants had to say in 15 words or less why they would love to be a tennis star, and Jessica's winning entry was : "I want to be a tennis star because I love the game and it would be fantastic to represent my school and England."

"I can't believe I am now officially the biggest fan in the area!

"I'm not as good as I'd like to be but I think it is a really exciting sport -- I can't wait to start having proper lessons."