Tennis
George tipped for the top after he lifts major title
YOUNG Horwich tennis ace George Morgan has been backed to reach the top by his coach, Martin Weston, after the 14-year-old won the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl title in America.
Morgan served notice of his massive potential by winning the competition - that lists past finalists such as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Tommy Haas - to become the first British winner of the event since Jamie Delgado in 1991.
Now George has been challenged by Weston to use the stunning victory as a stepping stone to becoming a future star of the sport.
Weston, who had a close-up view of Andy Murray's development, said: "I set George a target of reaching the quarter-finals, so to win the tournament was magnificent.
"It is a very big tournament, with 128 entrants, but the message I have given George is that this is just a starting point - not a destination.
"Junior success is fantastic and hard to get, but success as a senior is much harder and now George has to push on.
"I have been at tournaments with Andy Murray since he was a junior through my work with (British number three) Jamie Baker, and I have a serious goal to get George to the standard of Andy.
"It is not a dream, but a goal, and it is fantastic to have the opportunity to see it all happen again."
Former Rivington and Blackrod High School pupil George now trains full-time at the LTA Academy at Loughborough, and Weston reckons that his protege has everything in his locker to realise his goals.
"George has four crucial things going for him," said Weston. "First of all, he is 6ft 2ins at 14-years-old and that means he has a huge serve - something that is crucial in men's tennis.
"He has a huge amount of application, he has plenty of passion and desire and he is a match player.
"By that I mean he wins lots of games. I haven't seen anybody able to dig out a victory like George since Andy Murray. He wins so much."
George is in training at the moment, before travelling to New Zealand in February for three weeks. There, he will pit himself against older lads in tournament situations and a decision about his summer programme will then be made.
However, Weston has some words of caution for the player, who lists indoor hard surfaces as his favourite to play on.
"Tennis is a very hard sport to be successful in," said Weston. "There are only 100 male players that make big money, and probably only about 25 who earn the wage of a Premiership footballer.
"I coach Jamie Baker, who is in the top 200 players in the world. Not many people have heard of him, yet there are footballers earning millions of pounds who are not one of the best 200 players in the world.
"I cannot stress how competitive a sport tennis is, and we know what we are up against. But, our job now is to convert George's ability and potential into something that will take him to the top of the game."
Jim Edgar, tennis coach at Bolton Arena, who coached George for a year before the youngster moved to the LTA Academy at Loughborough, said:
"He is a terrific match player, and has a very good tactical brain. He is good at decision-making on court. He always makes the right decision and knows the right thing to do.
"Physically, he is a giant, he has a big serve and heavy, penetrating ground strokes."
9:31pm Sunday 6th January 2008
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