Tennis: City starlet Emma shapes her future

EDINBURGH tennis teenager Emma Devine was today due to tackle second qualifying seed Patricia Chirea, from Romania, for a place in the draw proper of the AEGON Pro-Series $10k tennis tournament at Craiglockhart.

But, whatever the outcome, 15-year-old Emma, from Portobello, has already made her mark with a first-ever victory at this level which came in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Northumberland's Dena Daly yesterday.

It was Emma's third venture on to the Futures Tour stage following competitions in Turkey and Glasgow last year and she said: "It was just great to be playing on home courts in Edinburgh.

"I've had a successful few weeks and hopefully it can continue a bit longer as I concentrate on developing my tactics and technique with emphasis on my serve and forehand."

Emma was never behind as she romped into a 3-0 lead against Daly then held her nerve to close out the opening set.

Her service game remained strong, too, as she pulled away to lead 4-1 in the second set, from which she never looked back to earn her chance today.

"In a couple of recent junior tournaments in Nottingham I reached the quarter-finals in the first week and went a round further next time.

"As well as training in Belgium I have also been to Malta where I reached the doubles final in a tournament."

Accompanying Emma into the next round is fellow Scot Joanna Henderson who beat Cheshire's Michelle Jlilati 6-1, 6-0 but Morven McCulloch (St Andrews) lost in three sets.

Edinburgh coach Mhairi Brown has been accepted into the tournament proper.