Britain has finally got a women's top 100 player for the first time since Sam Smith over 10 years ago. Anne Keothavong has managed to climb her way up the rankings after performing well in a number of ITF tournaments. However, the best young player coming through who could well threaten Keothavong as British No.1 is 18-year-old Amanda Elliott.

Elliott has burst on to the professional scene over the last year and has risen more than 250 places since January – not a bad achievement for a newcomer. Amanda is now ranked at a career high 395 and looks set to move into at least the top 250 by the end of the year when she will turn 19 in November. The young player seems to have a maturity beyond her years, which has been lacking amongst the British girls over recent times.

The likes of Katie O'Brien, Keothavong and Elena Baltacha have all come close to success in their careers but have failed when ready to break into the big time. All had the potential but the pressures and injuries have stopped them in their tracks. I think Elliott is different and her confidence will really show as she continues to mature.

‘Wimbledon is a unique event and the more time Elliott can spend at the tournament, the better it is for her future development’


She is coached by Jens Gerlach, former coach of French Open winner Anastasia Myskina, and this signals great things for the young Brit. She has done well so far in 2008, reaching the quarter-finals of a $25,000 event in Jersey and the semi-finals of another quality tournament in Sutton, England.

Appreciating her potential at such a young age, the LTA are putting a lot into developing Elliott into THE best player the country has had over the past 10 years – that's not too difficult. The LTA want Elliott to be world class and have fought hard for wild card entries into two bigger tournaments already to see how Elliott copes with the extra pressure.

The youngster did well in Strasbourg, losing in the first qualifying round to Rosanna De Los Rios of Paraguay, an experienced clay court player. She matched her opponent for much of the game, only making silly mistake to lose 3-6 4-6, but she showed she is not far from the big time.

With Wimbledon around the corner and lots of wild cards available for the tournament, the LTA would be stupid not to give Elliot her big chance on the WTA tour and see how she gets on in this prestigious event.

They should make the older girls fight for their wild cards or place them in the qualifying draw, but I believe it is important to give a teenager like Elliott the experience of such a major tournament. It can only motivate her to become a better player and help to improve her ranking, enabling her to play against the best for the bigger prizes.

Wimbledon is a unique event and the more time Elliott can spend at the tournament the better it is for her future development.

Forget about the likes of Sarah Borwell, who at 28 is never going to get any better, and concentrate on the youth.

Even just one Wimbledon first round match win could give the youngster enough points to move up the rankings more than 150 places into the world's top 250 straight away and that would allow Elliott to start entering more $50,000 and $75,000 ITF events where ranking points and prize money are higher.

She is sure to be a star and the LTA needs to nurture such players more carefully to give them the best chance of success and a long tennis career.

A wild card for Elliott is a MUST for this year's Wimbledon and, hopefully, by next year the youngster will qualify automatically for the tournament – just as Anne Keothavong has managed to do this year. Finally, Britain's got talent!