THREE youngsters have performed in front of the largest crowds they have ever experienced – after being chosen to represent Great Britain at a tournament which once featured the world's top players.

A 1,000-strong crowd this week watched matches at Lerbyshire's Sam Ferguson, Jay Clarke and Tiran Sanghera were among 128 boys from 51 nations competing which is considered the non-American equivalent of the famous Orange Bowl.

Derbyshire's Sam Ferguson, Jay Clarke and Tiran Sanghera were among 128 boys from 51 nations competing at the event, held in Tarbes in south-west France.

None of the three, all 13, progressed beyond the second round of the tournament, where previous champions have included Spanish star Rafael Nadal and Grand Slam winners Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters but they had an "incredible experience".

Ferguson, from Spondon, had a promising start to the competition after being given an automatic, unseeded place in the main boys' singles draw.

He beat second seed Denys Klok, of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-0 in his opening match but could not keep up the momentum in the second round, losing 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 to unseeded French player Wolfgang Olivier.

But Ferguson was very positive about how he played.

His father Graeme said: "Sam's coach told me that, when he walked off the court, he said: 'This is what I want to do', so he obviously enjoyed it. The coach said he also put his heart and soul into the matches.

"It was a shame he beat the lad from Ukraine but then couldn't beat the French lad but he was playing in front of 1,000 French people who were rooting for his opponent, so that might have had something to do with it.

"It was definitely the largest crowd Sam and probably the others have played in front of and I think Sam found it motivating, despite them supporting the person he was playing.

"It's funny what effect that can have. One lad, Louis Tessa, of France, was beaten by Sam at the warm-up event in Bolton but, at Les Petits As, he went on to beat the number one seed.

"But I certainly think Sam enjoyed the experience and will have taken a lot of confidence out of it going in to the rest of the year.

"He'll get that confidence from knowing he was competing at the level of some of the best boys in his age group and at a tournament which most of the professional players competed in as juniors."

Clarke, of Normanton, was also victorious in the first round after being given an automatic spot in the main draw. Like Ferguson, he was also unseeded.

He beat Italian qualifier Filippo Mora 6-2, 6-3, before losing 6-3, 6-1 to fourth-seeded Frenchman Francis Tiafoe in the second round.

Clarke and Ferguson then teamed up for the doubles and beat Romanians Gabi Adrian Boitan and Edris Fetisleam, seeded fifth, 6-2, 6-3 and Swiss pair Mirko Martinez and Marko Osmakcic 6-3, 6-1.

But the unseeded pair then lost to American duo William Blumberg and Nathan Ponwith, the number three seeds, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter finals.

Sanghera, meanwhile, lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to French player Paul Beulaguet in the first round of singles qualifying.

Ferguson senior added: "The doubles was very good for Sam and Jay and they were beaten by a top US pair.

"The Americans did quite well at the tournament in both the singles and doubles.

"Next week, a lot of these juniors, including Sam, will be competing at the winter cup and I think they'll take a lot from this tournament."