Kimberley Cassar, 15, has just returned from a three-week tour in the UK where she took part in three U-18 ITF tournaments in Edinburgh, Winchester and Dublin.

In Winchester, Cassar played in an U-16 competition where she won her opening two matches before losing to Hanna Toro, who eventually won the tournament.

On the clay courts of Edinburgh and the grass surfaces at Winchester, Cassar lost to eventual semi-finalists in the first round of the U-18 singles, despite some solid play from the Maltese girl.

In doubles events in Edinburgh and Winchester, Cassar and her partner reached the quarter-finals in both events for U-18s.

The daily training regime and competitive schedule paid dividends for Cassar in her last week of the tour. In Dublin, she reached the semi-finals in singles and doubles after three arduous sets in both instances.

Her remarkable run in Dublin was even more commendable given that Cassar is not used to playing on grass.

The results in the UK saw Cassar improve her U-18 world ranking considerably. From just under 900 she is now no.691.

Her next tournaments will be in Libya, this month, Cyprus and Switzerland, in September, and Dubai, in October.