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GLASGOW tennis player Jamie Baker scored the outstanding success of his career late on Sunday night, beating the Brazilian Marcelo Melo over three sets to win the $10,000 Futures tournament in Mexico.

Baker is in South America for six weeks, playing three tournaments back to back, and it was the second of these that brought the 18-year-old his first title in his first senior season. Yesterday, he embarked on an overnight air and road journey to Venezuela for a Satellite tournament that gets under way today, but he could reflect on a remarkable breakthrough, likely to improve his senior world-ranking position by around 100 places.

Going into last week’s tournament in Guanajuato, Baker was ranked 681 in the world, but his 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 upset of Melo, the second seed and world No404, followed an even more impressive 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 semi-final victory over the first seed, Alejandro Hernandez.

"He’s been playing well for a while and threatening to do this," said his father, Gordon, yesterday. "He’d been losing tough three-set matches but to win there is massive. It’s the most significant week in his career."

Like other promising young British players, Baker has spent much of that career lurking in the shadow of Andy Murray, winner of the US Junior Open title last year. As juniors, however, both performed at the very highest level; Baker reached No6 in the world and was a Junior Wimbledon quarter-finalist last season.

To read the full article go to : http://sport.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=471532005