WORCESTER tennis player Chris Harfield has taken the first steps in his quest for Grand Slam glory.

Harfield, 23, has returned from a Futures tournament in Senegal with his first world ranking singles points and an improved doubles ranking.

The former Malvern College student came through the qualifying event in Dakar and won his first round match in the main draw before teaming up with American James Ludlow to reach the semi-finals of the doubles.

The ATP points he has gained place him 1,823 on the computer for singles and 1,468 for doubles, but Harfield believes this is just the beginning.

He said: “This year I have played tournaments in Eng-land, Cuba, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Ireland, Senegal and Azerbaijan.

“I will continue to travel the world for the rest of the year in the quest to improve my ranking even more and try and get closer to my goal, which is to have success at Wimbledon and to represent my country both in the Davis Cup and at the Olympics within the next four years.”

Worcester-born Harfield first picked up a racket at the age of five and at nine was spotted by county coach Pat Wallace and picked to represent Hereford and Worcester. A year later he became county junior under 10s champion.

After a successful junior career, and inspired by the help of father Martyn and older brother Michael, Harfield spent two years at Millfield School in Somerset.

He then gained a tennis scholarship to the University of Louisiana, where he played in the hotbed of college tennis as well as studying for an international business degree.

“After some successful tournaments in the US in the summer of 2005 I left college and at the age of 20 joined the International Tennis Academy in Miami, where I began training as a full-time professional under the guidance of ex-Canadian Davis Cup coach and Greg Rusedski’s old coach, Andre Labelle.

“At ITA I was the top student and was regularly asked to practice with top professional players including the Williams sisters and Sebastian Grosjean (former world number four).

“I started playing the circuit at 20 but, on my first tour, I got a serious wrist injury which put me out of competition for one-and-a-half years.”

Harfield moved back to England and started training and travelling with British Davis Cup player Richard Bloomfield. He is now training in Yorkshire under the guidance of former British number five Gary Henderson.

“Gary has been a great coach and mentor and I have seen massive improvements with my game under him,” Harfield said.

“My recent results have given a me a real confidence boost and my aim is to be ranked in the top 35 in the country by the end of this year.”