HORWICH teenager George Morgan was catapulted into the nation’s consciousness when he reached the final of the boys doubles at Wimbledon last weekend – but his rise to prominence is not so surprising when you consider he is one of the most highly-rated young prospects in the world.

The 17-year-old is 42nd in the junior world rankings and is number two in Great Britain, just behind Oliver Golding.

In the lead-up to Wimbledon, he won the Cap D’ail ITF Junior Open doubles competition in France and was runner-up in two other competitions of similar standings, another in France and one in Paraguay.

In this year’s elite Orange Bowl event, which is on a par with Wimbledon and the other Grand Slams, he reached the last 16 of the singles competition and was runner-up in the Czech Open and Argentina Cup singles.

He is currently playing ‘Future’ events which are aimed at helping top young players bridge the gap between junior and senior competition.

And, while Morgan is happy to briefly bask in the glory of Wimbledon, there is no let-up in his intensive schedule.

“I can’t describe the feeling when we won our semi-final match at Wimbledon,” said Morgan. “We were so pleased.

“And it was an even better feeling in the final when we stepped out onto Court One.

“It was an unbelievable atmosphere with everyone cheering for us. It will certainly stand me in good stead for the future because I will have the confidence of previous success at Wimbledon.

“We didn’t expect to do so well because, in the warm-up tournament, we lost in the first round but we managed to get to the final in the main event.

“I was ill leading up to the event and hadn’t played too much and I think that contributed to my first round defeat in the singles.

“I think I played okay but my opponent is excellent on grass and I had only played one match on that surface all year.”

Morgan is based at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, which has high performance training facilities. He is coached by Colin Beecher and travels the world playing in tournaments.

“I have got a few Future events coming up and then I hope to be playing in the Junior Olympics, US Open and maybe a couple of ITF events in Canada,” said Morgan, whose favourite surface is clay.

“My coach Colin has helped me with a lot of things on and off the court. He has made me realise what I need to do and how hard I need to work to become a great player.”

Wimbledon remains a distant memory for now, but a chance to rub shoulders with the elite of the world game at the end of tournament ball has given Morgan the appetite for future glory.

Bolton has a new shooting star about to shoot onto the horizon.