Eastbourne finalist Jonny O’Mara is flying the flag not just for Scotland and Great Britain but also for British universities.

The 23-year-old is enjoying the best week of his career, having recently broken into the world’s top 100 alongside doubles partner Luke Bambridge.

Last December, O’Mara was part of the British team that beat America to win the Master U competition, the biggest annual student team tennis tournament in the world, for the first time. Five of the six team members trained and studied at British universities.

And O’Mara, who made his Wimbledon debut 12 months ago, is keen to get the message out to young players that British universities now offer a real alternative to the better-known American college route.

O’Mara, who has had to put his studies at Stirling University on hold because of his success, told Press Association Sport: “A lot of tennis players are attracted by America and why wouldn’t you be, especially at the age we are. To see a different life, you’ve got the full scholarships, you see it on the movies and it looks incredible.

“But in my opinion I don’t think there’s that much difference between the American and the British systems. The American one has more money but as a structure the British university system is in a good place – the level’s getting better.”

The British system has been transformed over the last five years under the stewardship of Universities Manager Alistair Higham. Since 2013, 10 current or former students have held a world ranking compared to none previously.

Higham said: “By beating America in December we’ve proven at the top end we have very, very good players.

“It’s different options for different people, but it’s certainly a very good option to go to a British university and develop your tennis.

“While it’s really tough to make it to the highest levels of Wimbledon, the age of the players is getting older, and whether it’s US college or British university, it’s great to have that time to develop and not pay for your tennis. Our universities are market leaders in all aspects of the delivery of tennis.”

Olivia Nicholls was not even thinking of a professional tennis career when she left home in Norwich to study sports science and management at Loughborough University.

But Nicholls has made big strides in doubles and, alongside Sarah Beth Grey, received a wild card into Wimbledon qualifying.

“If you’d asked me before university (about playing professionally) I would have laughed at you,” said Nicholls. “I didn’t really believe that could be a possibility. But when I got there I had so much more opportunity to play.

“People get through A Levels and they automatically think America, but they should really start to consider the British university route because it really is a good one.”

On top of their university programmes, Stirling and Loughborough have been placed at the centre of Britain’s tennis future after being named national academies under the Lawn Tennis Association’s new high-performance strategy.

The official pathway does not include higher education but O’Mara would urge everyone in British tennis to promote the university route.

“I hope the academies bring the universities into it and they realise that it’s actually quite an important way to bring the juniors through without them going to America,” he said.