Bobby Hornby might still only be five, but he’s already being hailed as a potential tennis champion.

The Bicester youngster has become the youngest child in the country ever to reach red level one standard in mini-tennis.

The Brookside Primary School pupil runs rings around his mother Alison and takes on seven and eight-year-olds on court.

He achieved the accolade aged five years and two months. The previous youngest player to make the grade was Chanula Wickramaratna, from Buckinghamshire, who was five years and 11 months old.

Red level 1 status is awarded to children who have played 76 matches, with a minimum of 20 wins. The first player to score 10 points wins, but they have to be a clear two points ahead of their opponent.

Mrs Hornby, 40, of Market End Way, said she noticed her son’s talent at a family game when Bobby was two.

She said: “He started hitting the ball back and forth and that was it – I was thrown out. I can play tennis, but Bobby makes mincemeat out of me.”

He trains three times a week at North Oxford Lawn Tennis Club, near Kidlington, with head coach Chris Hampton, who said said: “I have never seen a kid of that age so focused and naturally talented. I predict he could be in the top 100 players in the world.

“He’s certainly the best kid of his age in the country.”