YOUNG tennis ace Alex Skinner competed at two LTA grade five tournaments and celebrated victory at the SLTC Beijing Open.

The nine-year-old, who trains at Frinton Lawn Tennis Club, put in a strong performance throughout the event, held at Spring Lane Tennis Club, in Colchester.

He topped the group stage and won all his knockout matches in straight sets.

The final saw the Frinton-based youngster dominate his opponent with deep driving shots to his weaker side, winning 7-3, 7-3.

This was Skinner’s second LTA grade five win and saw his rating move to orange level one.

In the first competition he had been up against a large entry of players at Brandeston Hall Tennis Performance Centre, in Suffolk.

After four matches, he narrowly lost out on winning overall. Skinner won the first set 7-4 and then had two match points at the end of the second.

However, his more experienced opponent kept his nerve to eventually take the second set 7-6 and win the third 7-3.

Frinton team-mate and Skinner’s doubles partner, Alasdair Main, competed at the same event in Colchester.

It was his first ten and under green ball tournament.

He faced very tough opponents, including three of the top-rated players for their age group in East Anglia.

Main still gave a fine account of himself, winning 50 per cent of his matches on the day, which was an excellent result.

Both boys train at Frinton’s indoor tennis academy, based in Holland Road.