DAVID RICE confirmed his undoubted potential on Saturday after collecting the Boy's Under-13 National Tennis Title in Bournemouth, giving the resurgent tennis scene in Watford another massive boost in the process.

The 13-year-old from Rickmansworth, seeded second, beat top seed Darren Walsh in the final 6-2 6-3 to take the trophy and complete the tournament without dropping a set.

Earlier, David had beaten Philip Stephens 6-1 7-5 in Round Two after getting a bye in the first round knocked out Chris Herbert 6-0 7-5 in Round Three, won his quarter-final tie against Peter Francis 6-4 6-3 and took the semi-final 6-4 7-6 against Manial Bains.

However, David is no stranger to success; the talented youngster has already laid claim to a string of trophies which has seen him granted a place on the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) scheme for potential stars of the future.

As well as being a member of the LTA Tennis Academy at the Gosling Centre in Welwyn Garden City, David also attends Haileybury School in Hertfordshire as a tennis scholar. The School has been developing links with the LTA for a number of years now and currently houses the top young tennis talent in England.

As well as providing a full academic programme, David also benefits from specialist training programmes and, at the Gosling centre, receives top coaching from the likes of James Lenton and Jo Drurie.

As if success in the British nationals wasn't enough, David was given a double boost on Wednesday when he was selected to play for England Juniors in a home international event in Cork later in the year.

Before that, David has the Orange Bowl in Florida to look forward to, one of the most respected, and toughest, junior tournaments there is going.

There, David will meet players from all over the globe but he is unlikely to be overawed by the occasion. He has been taking part in tournaments in mainland Europe for a number of years and has already got experience of playing against some of the top players in the European game.

Jet-setting across the world playing tennis, it's sometimes hard to remember David is only 13-years-old but he is showing that with the right training and foundation to the game, the much-vaunted tennis revolution in Britain may yet finally transpire.

August 23, 2002 11:30