An aspiring tennis star from St Albans has taken a major national title.

Oliver Tarvet, a member of the Batchwood Tennis Academy, took the U12 title at the Winter National Tour held at Bolton Arena.

He defeated the third seed, Roan Jones, in the final in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.

In fact throughout the five-game tournament, in which he faced four seeded players, he only dropped one set, that to the top seed Will Gray in the semi-final.

Head coach Jon Meredith said: “Oliver is working very hard with great intensity on court of late which is paying dividends.

“Beating four of the top 10 players in Great Britain in a row is a great achievement and with continued hard work we are hopeful that Oliver can look forward to a bright future.”

His road to triumph began with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Lancashire’s Billy Blaydes.

Eighth seed Will Nolan was dispatched in the second round before fourth seed, Louis Davey from Cornwall, was beaten 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) in the quarter-final.

Befitting his status as number one seed, Gray proved a tough opponent. But with his first serve percentage lower than usual, he was made to pay for a number of unforced errors with Tarvet taking the match in a sudden-death tie-break 6-2 3-6 10-3.

With confidence brimming, a faultless final sealed his first National Tour win of the season and qualification for the Winter National Junior Championships finals, to be held at NTC Roehampton.