GRAND slamming his way to the top, young tennis ace Mark Openshaw from Thornton has won a place in the Guardian Direct Nationals.

The televised event is being staged at the Telford International Centre, Shropshire between November 12-17, and overall places will be battled out between 48 on-the-ball hopefuls from across Britain.

Mark, of Widgeon Close, said: "I'm absolutely thrilled at getting through to this final and hopefully, if I do well, it will lead on to bigger events for the future."

Training every day for four hours with his tennis squad based in Wrexham, North Wales, is a very demanding schedule for Mark.

But if he is to reach his overall ambition to become a professional player he will have to be good enough to beat two seeded players.

From January 1997 Mark will get his first sponsorship from Austrian company Fishers, based in Southampton, which makes exclusive tennis raquets and skiing equipment.

When asked about his spare time, the youngster laughed: "Life is not all based on the court, just for fun I like to play snooker at my local club in Cleveleys and, of course, going out with my mates is essential!"

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