RISING Llandybie tennis star Francesca Lewis has broken into the World Women's WTA rankings after she gained a vital ranking point from the £75,000 ITF Shrewsbury event.

The 20-year-old Swansea University student, a product of the Llandybie club, is now on the lower rungs of the professional women's game.

After securing her crucial ranking, the Swansea-based player is now able to concentrate fully on a challenging competitive programme of British and European events, in order to further her aspiring professional ambitions.

The right-hander, who trains out of the university's sports village and the Swansea Tennis Academy, is the current Welsh Women's No. 1.

Lewis gained her full set of senior Welsh honours after representing Wales at a Tri-Nations tournament in Dublin, having recovered full fitness following a catalogue of troubling injuries

She said: "I am so happy to have achieved one of my main goals and look forward to the new challenges ahead on the world stage and hopefully, in the process, gain further honours for myself and Welsh tennis."