British women’s tennis has been a miserable story over the past 20 years or so. Not the since the likes of Virginia Wade and Jo Durie has the United Kingdom had anything to shout about on the WTA tour, but the last year has seen a mini revival in the country's fortunes with the rise of some new potential ‘world’ stars. And it's great to see.

Anne Keothavong, the British No.1, is improving all the time. At 24, she has developed late and is now on the verge of cracking the WTA top 60 for the first time, having only broken into the top 100 a few months ago. She has a new-found confidence and, despite her age, has the power to make a dent in the top 50.

She has been a consistent top 150 player throughout most of her career but could never gain results when she needed them. And while she won many matches on the ITF challenger circuit, Anne could not show her quality on the WTA tour, where all the big points are up for grabs.

In 2007 she reached the semi-finals in Kolkota - and has not looked back since. At Wimbledon this year Anne won her first match and then ran Venus Williams close in the second round before being defeated by the eventual champion. She has a nothing-to-lose attitude against the big players and this year has recorded impressive wins against Sania Mirza, Francesca Schiavone and Vania King, all quality opposition.

Keothavong's third-round appearance at the US Open last week shows just how much she is improving, especially on her favoured hard-court surface, though she also won a clay-court tournament in Lebanon earlier in the year. She still has a good five to seven years left on the WTA tour and it is finally time for Anne to start earning the money she so richly deserves.   

The performances of the British No.1 have had a knock-on effect on the country's other leading women players in 2008. Elena Baltacha has had some good results whilst still battling through the pain barrier and is on the verge of joining Keothavong in the top 100.

And, even more impressively, Melanie South is putting in some good results with a quarter-final birth at Edgbaston this summer and wins over top-75 players Petra Kvitova and Sybille Bammer of Austria, a former top 20 player and recent US Open quarter-finalist.

South is the youngest of the trio and I feel she has the potential to be a consistent top 100 player throughout her career. She just needs to gain the experience of playing in big events and against skilful opponents. I think Mel has the biggest game of all the Brits at the moment and a few more good wins could see her playing regularly on the WTA circuit instead of travelling across the world on the less-lucrative ITF circuit.

 

Naomi Cavaday has been disappointing in 2008 and has failed to improve her ranking. But she is still young enough to become a really good professional if she can just gain some confidence from the other Brits.

Georgie Stoop, who is coming back from injury, has had a few good wins in 2008 and is moving the right way up the rankings to just outside the top 250. With a strong end to the year, she should gain a top 200 ranking and look to have a breakthrough year in 2009 when she will turn 21.

At just 16, Tara Moore is another to watch closely. She is just starting to play on the professional circuit rather than in junior events and has already gained some impressive results for her age.

And of course it would not be right to talk about British women’s tennis without mentioning teen sensation Laura Robson. The 14-year-old came from nowhere to win Junior Wimbledon and with the right guidance from family and coaches not only has the ability to become a top 100 star but also to be a true world-class player involved in the latter stages of Grand Slam events.

I know its early days but the signs are there for a champion in the making. And I am sure you will all agree that Robson in particular is worth being optimistic about!

Ladies tennis is on the way and with Andy Murray doing o well on the ATP tour at the moment, things are looking bright for Brits.