BOLTON Arena based players are hitting top form just a ahead of the National Tennis Championships, which take place on their own patch starting on Friday.

David Sherwood and Jonathan Marray have both enjoyed terrific results in the recent Internationals Fixtures Tournaments in the UK.

With only Tim Henman ranked higher in the doubles, Sherwood and Marray won the $10,000 doubles event at Sunderland last week, confirming themselves as the top GB pair.

Sherwood lost in the singles final to Mark Hilton, and will now rise into the world's top 500.

Marray, who made the semis at Sunderland, had an excellent win over last year's Nationals finalist Alex Bogdanovic in the second round.

Recently at the $15,000 event in Edinburgh, Sherwood made the quarter finals also beating Bogdanovic, Britain's fifth best player, in the First Round.

Three other Bolton Arena squad players have also made huge progress recently under the direction of coach Edgar. Justin Layne won a £15,000 event in Lagos, Nigeria, in August, rising 250 places to 603 in the ATP world rankings. Jason Torpey won the National Tour event at Nottingham, and is close to achieving a world ranking. Alice Mackenzie, aged just 15, has gained a senior world ranking in Barcelona in September, winning through five tough matches against foreign opposition.