A rising tennis star from Abbots Leigh is celebrating after winning a prestigious tournament in Croatia.

Ten-year-old Katie Swan, who attends the Downs School in Wraxall, won the Smirkva Bowl, the most important tennis tournament on the European calendar for children aged 10 and under.

More than 100 boys and girls from across the world competed, with Katie beating Serbian Jovana Vukovic 6-4 6-2 in the final, adding the Smirkva Bowl title to the national 10-and-under clay court title she recently won.

Her father, Richard, said: "One of Katie's strengths as a player is that she is very cool and very calm. She doesn't let anything get on top of her; she just goes out and plays her match.

"The final in Croatia was like a mini grand slam final: the girls walked onto the court with flowers and with ball-girls carrying their bags. Then they were photographed by the net and had ball-girls and ball-boys and a full set of line judges.

"As far as a 10-year-old is concerned, that is the real deal! There must have been 150-200 people watching, too, but Katie doesn't get fazed by anything like that."

Her prizes included a week at the Mouratoglou Academy in Paris, a sports contract with Wilson, a mountain bike and an adidas tennis shirt signed by Ana Ivanovic.

The day after the final, the male and female finalists represented Europe against the United States and won 7-1, with Katie, who trains at David Lloyd in Bristol, winning both of her singles matches.

Despite being only 10, Katie is already the second highest ranked 12 and under player in Avon and 70th in the country. She has also been earmarked by the LTA as an AEGON FutureStar, one of the most promising eight-to-15-year-old players in the country.