By Alexandra Willis in Melbourne

Morgan has his sights set on a junior Grand Slam title in 2011

George Morgan might have lost in the semi-finals of the Australian Open boys' singles but he has far greater ambitions on his mind.

"My goal is to be year-end junior number one, so I'm not putting pressure on myself," says the 17-year-old from Bolton. "I just want to take every match once at a time and just do my best. I obviously want to do well, I want to win a junior Grand Slam, but there's obviously more opportunities. My main concentration is on the Futures, I want to get some more ranking points."

Aiming high, Morgan also likes to think of his game as a developing version of none other than Andy Murray's. Invited to sit in the Scot's box during two of his Australian Open matches, the winner of last year's prestigious 18&U Orange Bowl hit with both Murray and Roger Federer in Melbourne.

"I probably learned more from Andy," says Morgan. "He's more intense and, being British, he inspires me a lot. Federer's probably more relaxed, more chilled. I think he's almost too talented for me to learn from, but he's a really nice guy. I felt it helped me a lot because the tempo and the way the two of them hit is just fast, so when I go and play juniors it feels quite slow."

Morgan's progress in Melbourne comes a few weeks after another boost for Britain's emerging players, as 18-year-old Heather Watson became the youngest female in the top 150 on the back of reaching her first WTA quarter-final in Auckland.

In the last few years we've been a bit guilty in Britain of thinking the juniors it's not relevant Andy Murray

"My ranking's moved a lot in these past two weeks," says Watson. "I'm really happy I got through a round in Melbourne, it's my first singles win at a Slam, and this is only my third Grand Slam, so I'm still gaining experience. By the US Open I don't want to have to qualify, I want to be in the main draw. That's my goal."

Following the Auckland performance with her second appearance in the lottery that is Grand Slam qualifying, where players have to win three matches to make the main draw, Watson defeated former junior world number one Kristina Mladenovic before going down to Leysa Tsurenko. Watson was watched in her match by Mladenovic and several other players, showing that she is well and truly on the ones-to-watch radar.

"I feel like I'm doing well and I've just got to keep it up," says Watson. "I like that they are thinking to watch me, because it makes me feel like I'm a threat to them, which is good. I study my opponents in a nerdy way, I'll go look at them on YouTube playing, check their results, history, to make sure I'm the most prepared that I can be."

Watson is one of many fledgling seniors, Laura Robson among them, trying to make the traditionally tricky conversion from junior to senior player that has tripped up countless British hopefuls.

"It's one thing to be a good junior, it's quite another to be a good senior," explains Judy Murray. "When you're playing just in the juniors, it's quite a comfort zone because you're surrounded by a lot of people that you know because you've grown up with them, and you've probably got a couple of coaches and other players from your country.

Watson has moved inside the world's top 150

"When you get into the Futures circuit, the chances are you're not going to know anybody at all, it's very much dog eat dog, and it's only the toughest that survive."

But Watson's progress from junior Grand Slam champ to senior contender is a very recent example for those players battling below her that the transition is do-able, and that junior rankings, while not set in stone, are not wholly irrelevant when it comes to charting the rise of the future tennis player.

"Obviously guys need to do well on the senior tour to make a living, but in the last few years we've been a bit guilty in Britain of thinking the juniors it's not relevant," said Andy Murray. "But if you look at the past top 10s in the past 15 years in the junior rankings, pretty much every year four or five of them end up getting into the top 100, so it is a good indicator."

In fact, 16-year-old Kyle Edmund, who competed in his first junior Grand Slam outside of Wimbledon in Melbourne Park this week, is basing his progress on the various milestones achieved by those who have moved from juniors to seniors successfully, including Murray himself.

"We have been looking at where Murray, Djokovic, Federer were when they were at 16 years old, and obviously they all take different routes, but Murray was number six at the end of this year, so we're just trying to use that as a good guideline," explains Edmund.

606: DEBATE Your thoughts on the British juniors

Doing well at junior level can also present the additional challenge of dealing with heightened expectations Jennifer Ren is a former Orange Bowl semi-finalist, and although now within the top 75 in the junior rankings, she admits that a lot changes with every year as a junior.

"Those expectations, they jump into you," says Ren. "There's so many possibilities, so many things can happen when you're that young, so many other people you don't even know. You deal with different things as you grow up, you play loads and loads of different types of players, and you learn. You might go through phases of not playing as well, but you learn how to deal with playing up to better players."

The other positive is that there is both a camaraderie and a rivalry among the juniors that should inspire mutual progression.

"We've got three guys in the top 20 ITF," says Morgan. "Me, (Oliver) Golding and (Liam) Broady. Broady's doing well in Futures at the moment, Golding's ITF ranking has gone to four. If one of us does well, the other wants to do even better. We're almost three rivals there and help each other on."

Not that succeeding as a professional ends with just converting from juniors to seniors. As Mrs Murray points out, the next step is to get from lower-level senior to higher-level senior.

"Too many British players get stuck at Futures and they never get out of it, and that's not going to get you anywhere," she says. "So the sooner they can start dipping their toes in, and developing a game that will hold up on the seniors, the better."

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