For Carlos Rodriguez to show faith in her, you couldn't get much better when it comes to women's tennis.
SHE'S already got the drive and the poise for Wimbledon's Centre Court. Now she has the opportunity to fulfil her potential and get to tennis's hallowed ground.
Emma Devine, a 13-year-old from Scotland, has eliminated the competition from
around the world and been invited to join one of the world's leading tennis schools.
The teenager is among a European elite handpicked to join the Justine Henin tennis academy in Belgium.
If her progress continues, she could be following in the footsteps of Dunblane's Andy Murray, who was only knocked out of Wimbledon last week at the quarter-final stage.
He too left Scotland at an early age to follow his tennis ambitions and has been rewarded with a place in the world's top 10.
Following trials in Brussels, Devine is one of only four girls – including two Russians – handpicked to join the training set-up of Henin, the world No1 before she quit the circuit earlier this year.
She was recommended by Andy's mother Judy, a former Scottish national tennis coach who, along with Devine's full-time coach Mairi Brown, has worked with the Edinburgh girl for the past few years.
Devine was invited to attend an assessment with dozens of girls from around the world in June, and it was there that Henin's business partner and former coach Carlos Rodriguez spotted the Scot.
Her father Ken, an accountant, said: "Rodriguez said she had huge raw potential and that he would be delighted to work with her and try to bring that on. Emma believes in herself and we have the belief in her, but as her dad I know I am biased. So to hear that from someone who has coached Justine Henin and obviously knows talent when he sees it was fantastic. I think we are all very excited that she has got this opportunity."
Life at the academy will mean her practising up to six hours a day. She will also get nutritional advice as well medical and physiotherapy help.
She will be housed in an apartment with one of the other girls and a mentor. When she travels to tournaments, one of the academy coaches will travel with her.
"It is all so different from here, where the coaches are very good, and we really are grateful to Mairi, but when the kids travel to tournaments there is usually one coach for a whole group of players," Ken said.
"No disrespect to the girls she hits with, but there just isn't the same quality of practise partner to push her on a daily basis and here she has to combine it with schooling.
"There, everything will be concentrated on her tennis and she will be working in a handpicked group of elite players for her age group with coaches who are excited by her potential."
A place at the Henin academy is the cherry on top as far as Devine is concerned. She said: "She is my favourite player – well, she was until she retired – so this is such a dream for me. I'm really excited about going. I want to be a full-time player and eventually do well in the women's game, so practising with a much better standard of player will help.
"Getting the chance to go there is a great achievement for me. I'm not nervous about leaving home and moving there because the people there were very pleasant and made me feel really welcome and feel really good about my tennis. Carlos watched us, and for him to say that I could be a professional is great."
It was Rodriguez who moulded Henin's career since the player was 14, and given that the partnership reaped the rewards of seven Grand Slam titles, it is little wonder the Edinburgh girl, who was a finalist at the Scottish Open for her age group on Friday, is excited by the prospect of working with the Belgian and her Argentine coach.
The current target is the Olympics in 2012. By then she will be 17, two years younger than her heroine and now mentor was when she made it to her first Grand Slam final in 2001. The Henin academy is based on a club structure, which allows the elite players to mingle with ordinary players while still benefiting from training with some of the best in their age group.
However, one drawback is the expense. "We know how big an opportunity this is for Emma, but it is a huge commitment from us," said Ken. "It will cost us ?2,700 a month (£2,100] to subsidise her dream.
"We know it is great value for money and hope it will one day produce another top-quality Scottish player like Andy Murray, but we really need the help of sponsorship to finance it. Andy has spoken about how the move abroad helped his progress and we hope that a sponsor will recognise that and consider Emma worthy of some kind of investment because she obviously has the potential.
"For Carlos Rodriguez to show faith in her, you couldn't get much better when it comes to women's tennis."
Murray also moved away from the British set-up as a teenager, going to Barcelona, and he claims it was instrumental in his rise up the senior rankings. Provided the funding is in place, Emma is due to start at the academy on September 1.
"We hope that will be the case," Ken said. "She has earned this chance and we would hate to stand in her way."
Yesterday, she was able to take heart from the success of another British prodigy when 14-year-old Laura Robson became the youngest winner of the girls' singles since Martina Hingis in 1994. She beat Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 6-3 3-6 6-1.
The Londoner overcame a second-set collapse to complete a fairytale Wimbledon debut and was given odds of 20-1 to win Wimbledon by 2020.
The full article contains 1020 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
