Devine Enjoys Masters Success

Edinburgh's Emma Devine won her first British title this afternoon (Sunday) when she lifted the 16 and under girls singles at the AEGON Masters Series at Roehampton, following in the footsteps of fellow Scots Maia Lumsden and Alice Keddie who lifted the 12 and under and 14 and under titles respectively in recent weeks.

The 15 year old who spent a year training at Justine Henin's Academy in Brussels but is now based at Stirling, won 4 matches without dropping a set and dismissed favourite Kyria Dunford 75 62 in the final.

She said "It's very satisfying to lift this title but my sights are set on mixing events on the ITF junior circuit and playing on the first rungs of the womens tour.  If you want to be a successful pro, you need to be able to compete and win overseas.  I'm leaving on Tuesday for a weeks training in Belgium and then heading to two $10k womens events in Turkey.  After that I'll be in Malta for a world junior ranking event followed by another two in Nottingham."

Two weeks ago Emma qualified for her first main draw on the ITF world junior circuit and went on to reach the quarter final in Almere, Holland.  As a result, she gained her first world junior ranking points.

"I need to build on that now so I'm going to have to be on the road as much as I can before my school exams in May!"