ROB Carter has risen up to 800 in the world rankings after reaching the final of the Aegon Pro Series in Sheffield.

The 20-year-old, from Thorpe Bay, was beaten 6-2 6-1 by former Wimbledon junior finalist Liam Broady.

But Carter remains delighted by the progress he has made.

“It was the first time I had made a final so that has given me the confidence to repeat it now and build for the future,” said Carter.

“I definitely lost to the better player in the final and Liam is in better shape than me at the moment.

“He gets a lot more help than I do from the LTA and has his own coach, but I’m pleased with how I’ve done.

“It was good to win some prize money and LTA bonus money as well.

“But I also got 10 ATP tour points and that’s taken me from 1,100 in the world up to 800.

“That’s a big leap forward for me and I want to keep that going now.”

However, Carter was unable to build on his success in Sheffield in his next Pro Series event in Roehampton, earlier this week.

Carter was again beaten by Broady in the first round, losing 7-6 6-1.

The first set was extremely close and while the youngsters did exchange a couple of breaks, neither player could break away so it was no surprise that it went to a tie break.

At 2-2 in the tie break it was Broady who broke through first and he did not look back, taking five points in a row to take the lead.

After such a close first set, the momentum stayed with Broady who raced to a 3-0 lead in the second.

In the sixth game he broke again to love and served out the match in convincing fashion to secure his place in the second round.

As a result, Carter will now head back in to training and is keen to improve his fitness.

“I’m going to France for two week’s worth of fitness work now to improve the kind of shape I’m in,” said Carter, who played at the Garons Academy in his youth.

“After that I will be looking to play a few tournaments abroad to try and pick up even more points and get even higher up the rankings.”