KENT'S teenage tennis star Miles Kasiri says he will shrug off any pressure to be "the next Tim Henman" after losing the junior singles final at Wimbledon on Sunday.

Kasiri, 18, a former Margate tennis club player, whose family still live in the town, lost 7-5, 7-6 (8-6 in the tie break) to top seed Gael Monfils, a 6ft 3in Frenchman who is seeking a clean sweep of this year's junior Grand Slams.

Kasiri, watched by his parents Firuz and Gayle, said that he had always been determined to reach the final.

He added: "Obviously, I'm dispappointed that I lost, but I'm also happy about getting to the final. I wanted to win it. That was the goal. But I'm not too disappointed. I believe that I could have won the match had I played a few points better.

"I wasn't nervous at all. I was excited before the match. In the junior tournaments there's not big crowds so it was nice to have a big atmosphere. There were flags wih my name on it and everything. I have never had that before."

Looking forward to his entry into the senior level of the game, he said: "Federer won the juniors a few years ago and he's already won the pros quickly. That gives me confidence that maybe I'm on the right track."

Asked about comparisons with Tim Henman, he added: "It doesn't matter if other people are giving me pressure because I won't feel it. The only pressure I feel is what I expect of myself. If I achieve as much as him in my career then that would be amazing for me."

Margate junior coach Gaynor Mayer, who saw his semi-final win over his own doubles partner, Scoville Jenkins of the USA, said: "Seeing Miles play like this is just fantastic. He has always been a winner and from the age of four I can remember him always being so competitive and wanting to beat everybody. It's that will to win that has brought him this far."

Like Russian 17-year-old Maria Sharapova, Kasiri left home in Margate to attend the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy in the Florida, in his case at the age of 13.

In his four years there he sometimes trained with the Russian star, who won the women's singles final against Serena Williams on Saturday.