Is this 17-year-old the next great British tennis player?

Emma Raducanu is one of the top prospects on the British tennis scene and tells Will Jennings she believes her lofty ambitions of Grand Slam titles are now within touching distance

Emma Raducanu won the UK Pro Series this weekend (Ian Hall)

Emma Raducanu has tennis’ Grand Slams in her sights after coming from behind to be crowned the first UK Pro Series champion.

Bromley's teenage sensation thought she was dead and buried against Jodie Burrage but showed all her resilience in Weybridge, overhauling a 6-2 super tie-break deficit to seal a remarkable turnaround.

The 17-year-old is one of the top prospects on the British tennis scene and reckons her lofty ambitions are within touching distance.

“It feels great especially after that match – it was a bit of an epic, was up and down and there was such a momentum shift,” she said. “To be honest, at one point I didn’t think I’d be able to pull through but as it got tighter I thought I could actually do it.

“But when I was 5-1 down and 6-2 down, especially after the first set tie-break, I was like the odds of this happening are very low. Once I got it to 6-3 I was like ‘right, I’ve got this’.

“My long-term goals in tennis are to be top ten in the world and win Slams – they’re my ultimate dreams and I definitely think I have the mentality to do it.

“I’m pretty ambitious – there are a lot of 17-year-olds out there who are better than me. There are top 100 WTA players, so that’s where you want to be.

“It’s just if my game can follow, but I think the progress that I’m making at the moment that isn’t too far out of the question.

“I really do believe I can do it. I think I’ve still got at least 15 years in the sport, but I would want to be peaking in my 20s when I’m about 23.”

Raducanu was one of 24 leading players competing in the event, playing alongside the likes of Naomi Broady and Eden Silva in the women’s draw and James Ward and Liam Broady in the men’s.

The innovative format was devised by Andy Murray’s coach, Jamie Delgado, with players on Classic Week being split into two boxes of six ahead of finals weekend.

The teenager sparkled in Weybridge, losing to Burrage in the pool stages before a blistering start against Harriet Dart in the semi-finals helped her win 6-0, 6-3.

And that flamboyance was supplemented by resilience the next day as Raducanu dug deep to win 6-7, 6-2, 10-8 and hold the inaugural trophy aloft.

Raducanu was proud of that fighting spirit and believes it’s that particular quality that makes her such a talent.

“I’m super proud of it – I think that one of my best qualities is that I’m pretty scrappy and gritty and they’re two words I would describe myself as,” she added

“I back myself and mentally I’m quite tough.

“I’ll take a few days off and then I’m back training on Wednesday or Thursday - I just need to keep plugging away at my game, although I don’t think I’ll be playing any international competitions for a while.”

12 of the UK’s top women and men qualified through the UK Pro Series for the UK Pro Classic - widely billed as the Premier League of Tennis. For more information, visit www.ukproseries.com