Stephanie Cornish is going from strength to strength on the national and international tenis circuit.

The Billericay player recently reached the last eight at the under-12 Girls' Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.

Pundits consider the American event to be the world junior championships and 14-year-old Stephanie was among 128 players in the draw.

Stephanie defeated a seeded opponent in the first round and eventually lost in the quarter finals to a Californian who beat the British number one in the final.

Among Stephanie's scalps were the Japanese number two and the number eight seed from Canada.

"My results far exceeded my expectations and when I entered I thought I would do well to qualify," said Stephanie, who is a pupil at Haileybury boarding school in Hertfordshire.

Domestic action has seen Stephanie competing on the under-14 girls' Winter Grand Prix Circuit, where she has qualified for all three main draws.

She is hoping win against the number two in her group and players in the age division above will have been enough to qualify for the Grand Prix Masters finals next month.

Published Thursday January 22, 2004

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