SIMON Roberts wants to play at Wimbledon in two years time.

And the 21-year-old from Bromley Cross is going about achieving that ambition with focus and determination.

Roberts has become only the second tennis player from Bolton to earn an ATP world ranking.

Not since Martin Robinson reached a position just outside the top 100 in the world in the 1970s, has Bolton had a tennis player who has threatened to make ripples in the major tournaments. But Roberts, ranked 1,325 in the world, wants to change that.

"I hope to play at Wimbledon in the next couple of years," Roberts said. "But my first priority, having got my ranking, is to improve it by picking up ATP points.

"I'm going to start travelling a bit more to do that. It's a lot easier to pick up points at ATP tournaments in India and Africa than it is in Europe, simply because the standard of the players who enter isn't as high."

Roberts' breakthrough into the world's top 1,500 male players came in the unlikeliest of tennis venues - Wrexham. He had to qualify for the Wrexham Futures Tournament two weeks ago, then win a match in the main draw to amass enough points to make the rankings list.

And he did it by beating 18-year-old Miles Kasiri, the British player who made headlines by reaching the boys' singles final at Wimbledon this year.

Roberts, a former Canon Slade pupil, is the brightest of the current young players at Bolton Arena, where next week he starts as the top seed in the Lancashire Championships. Under the guidance of his coach Jim Edgar, Roberts has made huge progress over the last year.

"I've made a big improvement," Roberts said. "I've started to train harder, and the results have come."

Those results included a shock victory over number one seed Tasuku Iwami, ranked in the world's top 300, at the Manchester Challenger tournament in Didsbury this summer. "I don't think the sponsors were too happy that I knocked out the top seed in the first round," Roberts laughed.

But that victory, plus an impressive performance in defeat against American Vince Spadea at the Northern Vision Liverpool International tournament in June, show just how far he has progressed.

He owes his start in the game to his primary school. Roberts was a seven-year-old pupil at The Oaks Primary, in Sharples, when a tennis coach was brought in one day to teach a few tennis basics.

"He picked out a few players who he thought had talent," Roberts said. "We had a demonstration and I found I really liked playing the game."

So much so, that he spent the next eight years as a member of Eagley Tennis Club, before joining Holcombe Brook when he was 15.

And despite his rising profile, he still plays for Holcombe Brook in the Bolton Sports Federation Tennis League.

Roberts is certainly keeping his feet on the ground. He lives with his parents, Alan and Linda, who are both proud of their son's achievements.

But despite his success so far, Roberts faces a tough road ahead. He does not currently have a sponsorship deal - vital if he wants to continue to devote the time and effort required to become a top player.

"My aim now is just to keep improving," Roberts said. "I want to get into the top 1,000."