TWO Bolton tennis players have proved they are a real hit with the ladies.

Professional player Justin Lane, aged 24, who trains at Bolton Arena, has been named the eighth sexiest player in the world in a poll by Ace tennis magazine.

And Simon Pearson, aged 20, from Heaton, a former player and coach at the Middlebrook venue, is considering several modelling contracts from top London agencies after winning an internet competition run by Channel 4's Model Behaviour programme.

Justin, who is ranked 17th in the country, comes from Hertfordshire but trains with the Arena's elite tennis squad and is currently playing in a professional tournament in South Africa.

He features in the list of the sexiest male tennis players alongside some of the game's leading stars. The list was headed by American player James Blake.

In the poll to find the sexiest women players, Anna Kournikova topped the list.

Former international player, Simon, who was forced to retire from the game two months ago because of a shin injury, was entered into the modelling competition by an ex-girlfriend.

He said: "Justin has done quite a bit of modelling and photo shoots in the past. For me, it's a totally new thing and I was completely shocked to win.

"It's quite funny really that this has happened to us around the same time. Justin is going to do some more modelling to help fund his tennis all over the world and I have been to London to talk to several model agencies.

"This has come at an ideal time for me as I had to quit tennis recently. But I'm doing coaching exams at the moment, so I'm not making any decisions just yet."

Channel 4's Model Behaviour show hunts for would-be models and in its internet competition people submitted photographs and Simon came top in the men's section.

Justin is one of three professional players who train with the elite squad at the Arena. Coach Jim Edgar said: "It's funny in a way that Justin is up there with all the well-know players, but he won seven out of eight tournaments on the British tour and attracted quite a lot of attention from the magazine.

"For Simon, it was strange because he was up against about 4,000 lads and he didn't even realise it. We're tickled pink for both of them."