GIS - Henderson wins first senior event but has higher hopes for juniors

Aberdeen's Joanna Henderson won the first senior title of her career in the Stirling Grand Prix event but the 13 year old's foray against older players will not skew her desire to succeed in the international junior ranks.

GIS - Joanna Henderson Last weekend at Stirling University she beat Yorkshire's Megan O'Sullivan 6-4 7-6 before upsetting 18 year old Claire Birnie, Scottish Women's Indoor Champion and fellow Aberdonian, 6-2 6-1 in the final.

I have been training hard over the summer and during the October holidays I went to Florida and trained with Johan Kriek at his Academy, said Henderson, who is coached by Kris Soutar and supported by physios and Strength & Conditioning coaches of the Grampian Institute of Sport.

I guess it's all coming together and I've just been putting the finishing touches to it.

After winning the Edinburgh International this July, Henderson moved into the top 100 on the ETA (European Tennis Association) rankings list. But as a relative youngster in this age group she made an even bigger leap to her current European ranking of 29 this autumn when the group of girls a year older than her graduated to under 16 level.

Not content with staying inside Europe's top 30, Henderson has another opportunity to move higher before the close of 2007 when she competes at a Grade 1 event in France next month.

I'm hoping to bring my ranking down a bit further and next year I hope to be top 10, the British No1 for my age group and also get my first ITF points, she added.

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