Most tennis stars have a pre match ritual, but few will be like 17-year-old Emily Arbuthnott’s - who sat AS-level exams hours before playing in the Junior French Open.

The young tennis ace from Harpenden managed not only to sit two exams, but also reached the last 16 of the competition, making it her best international tournament result to date.

Emily said: "It was absolutely fantastic. It is such a great atmosphere there and to play with the sport's greats was fantastic.

"It was definitely very difficult, playing in front of crowds you don't experience anywhere else.

"It can be very nerve racking but there was a lot of British support in France, which as a player you feed off, giving you more confidence."

Emily, who was one of three British players at the tournament earlier this month, won two rounds before being knocked out by the top seed.

On the morning of her first round match, she sat her maths AS level at a nearby British school and went on to sit her chemistry AS level after her second round match.

The Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls pupil, who is also studying economics, added: "I tried to think about both separately. When I had an exam I had to switch my focus over to that.

"It was very difficult. "When I was playing a match, knowing I had an exam later might have been a bit off putting, but I've learnt to cope with tennis and school for a while now.

"I'm happy with how the exams and tournament went."

Emily, whose current international junior ranking is 42, has also played at the Wimbledon and Australian Open juniors and plans to play in the US Open juniors later this year.

She added: "The experience from those tournaments was great. This time around at the French Open I was a little more relaxed."

Emily was first identified as having potential as a tennis player at the age of eight.

Having trained at Batchwood for six years, she also plays at Harpenden LTC and manages to combine 15 hours tennis training a week alongside school.

Mandy Franks, who is director of tennis at Batchwood, said: "The coaching team are so proud of Emily's achievements. She is a genuine example of hard work paying off.

"A great role model for girls' tennis. A great story, local school girl turns into world class junior player."

Emily has just been selected for Judy Murray's GB team at the Maureen Connolly Trophy next week.

Her aim this summer is to train hard and improve her women's ranking by competing on the women's ITF circuit and then progress to the full-time circuit as a professional player.

The teenager is now training for her grass court season, which starts with Wimbledon pre-qualifying this week.