SPECTATORS at the USN Bolton Arena were treated to world-class junior tennis as many of the top junior players on the planet took part in the Bolton Under-14s International Tennis Tournament over eight days.

The event reached the final stages last Thursday with the semi-finals of the boys' and girls' singles, the final of the boys' and girls' doubles and the finals of the boys' and girls' consolation events, which can be entered by players who lose their first match.

The first semi-final saw Alexander Blockx justify his seeding with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 victory over unseeded American Kyle Kang.

Britain number one in the age group, Luca Pow – who was seeded number two in the tournament – then lost to ninth seed Antoine Ghibaudo, from France, in the second semi.

In a close and intense match, Pow took the first set after a tie break then lost the second, also in another tie break when he let slip a 5-1 lead.

Almost inevitably, it took a third tie break set to decide the match, which Ghibaudo took 7-5.

In the girls' semi-finals, fifth seed Cadence Brace, from Canada, beat unseeded American, Katherine Hui, by a reasonably comfortable 6-3, 6-2 margin.

In the second semi-final, another Canadian, second seed Victoria Mboko, beat third seed Athena Pitta, from Greece, 6-4, 6-4.

Mboko was pushed hard in the second set in which she came back from 4-3 down, having lost her serve, to win.

The best match of the day was the boys' doubles final, which saw unseeded Americans Joseph Philips and Learner Tien continue the form which had seen them beat the number eight and number four seeded pairs to beat number one seeds Blockx and Gilles Arnaud Bailly 6-2, 7-5, with brilliant attacking and defensive volley play.

In the girls' doubles, another unseeded pair won the event.

Denmark’s Zoe Du Pascier Jensen, paired with Finland’s Sade Scharlin, beat French pair, Emma Jouy and Maelie Monfils, by a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 margin.

The consolation singles boys' event saw the defeat of another British player, Arena-coached Alexander Tikhonov losing to American Cooper Williams 6-2, 6-4.

The ladies' event was a walkover as Britain’s Given Roach had to withdraw, leaving Canada’s Kayla Cross the winner.

The girls' final between Canadians Mboko and Brace saw the former start superbly to take a 5-1 lead in the first set.

Brace fought back to 5-4, but she was unable to complete the comeback as she lost 6-4.

The second set started evenly. However, as in previous rounds, Mboko upped her game at critical points and took the set 6-3 to become champion.

In the boys' final, Belgium’s Blockx and France’s Ghibaudo was a much more one-sided affair.

European number one Blockx took control early on and showed he could handle Ghibaudo’s ferocious forehand as he took the first set 6-1 then, from 2-2 in the second set, won 6-2 to take the title.

The event, which was first played in 1995 has produced a number of familiar names as boys' and girls' singles champions, such as Sir Andy Murray, Thomas Berdych, Marcus Baghdatis, Caroline Wozniacki, Justin Henin and Kim Cloijsters.