LEE Childs is still celebrating after winning the National tennis Championship final on Saturday, beating the 17-year-old underdog Alex Bogdanovic in straight sets.

Childs, still a teenager himself, became the first person since Tim Henman to successfully defend his crown after taking the title at Telford last year.

This time, at Bolton in front of a big crowd, he never looked like losing, proving too powerful for Bogdanovic and emerging triumphant, winning 6-3, 6-4.

But his young opponent should not be too downhearted. He achieved more than anyone thought at these championships and, after being a total unknown before arriving at the Arena last week, he is now being earmarked as the next Henman.

The extra media attention will certainly not affect him. For one so young, this lad has his head screwed on.

"It doesn't bother me to be compared to Henman but I will be careful not to get carried away by all this," remarked Bogdanovich.

Childs, meanwhile, must be delighted to win this tournament after suffering a nightmare 12 months.

Brushed aside

At the start of the week he talked of how much he had liked playing at Telford (where the National Championships were held until this year) and gave the impression that he was not all that keen on playing in Bolton.

His attitude will have changed now. After a sticky early patch, Childs has grown stronger all week and brushed aside Barry Cowan in some style at the semi-final stage.

In the women's, 19-year-old Hannah Collin, who beat top seed Julie Pullin in an exciting semi-final on Friday, overwhelmed Victoria Davies 6-2, 6-1 in double quick time.