According to Tennis Ireland, we are only a few years away from having our first home grown stars for many decades compete at the highest level, with three young players in particular rising quickly through the junior ranks.

Niall Fitzgerald, Mariana Levova and Mark Bowtell, all 17, are each in with an excellent chance of reaching the world top 100 in next year's rankings and therefore representing Ireland in such championships as Wimbledon and the US Open, their coach Garry Cahill has said.

"Each of these players is good enough to get into the top 100 next year provided they have the sponsorship or funding available to travel to matches, " said Cahill. "If everything goes well, we could be seeing these players competing in major championships."

Under a new approach designed to transform Irish tennis standards and put the country on the international tennis map, a number of young players have been carefully selected from around the country to live together to improve their game.

Since last September, young players ranging from 9 to 17 years have been based in an apartment in Dublin City University (DCU), the home of Tennis Ireland, under the careful eye of 'housemother' Louise Bothwell.

"We have three boys and three girls here at the moment, which works out quite nicely, " said Bothwell, a former Wimbledon player from Co.

Down. "The younger ones all go to the same school and they're all very supportive of each other. It's like a little community."

The six players are part of a 16-strong academy who are all coached by Cahill. The remaining ten, including Fitzgerald and Bowtell, live in the Leinster area and didn't need to leave home.

"I've been playing since I was about seven and it's just something I have always loved doing, " said Fitzgerald, who is the number one male junior in Ireland. "Now I'm going to be a senior player next year it's going to be a bigger challenge, but I'm already preparing for it. I have my Leaving Cert next year as well though, which is a bit tricky."

The exams are a problem for all of the players who are hoping to break into the top 100 next year.

"It's particularly hard for tennis players because this is their main window of opportunity, when they're 16 or 17, " said Cahill. "It's unfortunate that that is the time the exams are on and it's something that prevents a lot of players from going further.

"In Ireland, there is still the idea that education should be put before professional sport, and of course I would never advise a player to leave school early. But you can't play in Wimbledon and be a rocket scientist at the same time. It would be nice if some kind of allowances could be made for these players."

The players living in DCU have a hectic schedule of training, school, homework and tournaments. They frequently travel abroad to compete and put in up to 25 hours of training a week depending on their age.

For Levova, who has been to tournaments in Sweden, Norway, Spain and France in the last year, her one wish is to be a professional player.

Originally from Bulgaria, she is hoping to represent Ireland and is the number one female junior in the country.

"I have a hard time ahead, but I'm looking forward to finishing school and giving all my time to tennis, " she said. "We'll see what happens then."

"These players couldn't be doing what they are doing if they didn't love it because it really is a big commitment, " said Bothwell, whose two sons, Peter (11) and Sam (9) are in the academy.

Players from the north get additional financial assistance from the Northern Ireland Sports Council and Sports Lisburn.

Cahill said that while the Irish Sports Council had been extremely generous, more funding is going to have to come from the government if Irish tennis playing is to move towards international standards.

"Within the next 10 years, we're going to be able to produce a number of world-class players, " he said. "But funding is the biggest problem. A top player needs to spend thirty weeks away at tournaments and that's an expensive business."