UAE tennis is looking up to a much brighter future than it did maybe some 12 months ago.

At the recently concluded GCC Junior Championships in Dubai, the hosts fared well to displace last year's runners-up Bahrain in the boy's under-16 competition.

Ending second best in a six-nation tournament is not exactly something to be proud of.

But considering that this very same team of UAE juniors had ended one spot away from the end in last year's competition held in Oman, speaks a lot for the strides taken by them.

There is a pack of around five juniors who have been consistently showing up for their country during competitions the past season. Heading the list is Hamad Abbas, along with Faisal Bastaki, Salim Saif, Hassan Sharif and Saeed Al Merri.

"Last year was a bad experience for us," smiles Hamad Abbas. "And to make things worse, I was terrible throughout team competitions," he recounts.

But staying together as a team has had its effects on the youngsters. "We know and understand each other now," he claims.

This claim was not in vain as Abbas, 14, found himself leading from the front during the GCC Junior Championship at the Al Nasr Club. He won all but one of his singles matches, most of the times, against opponents who were much bigger to him in age and structure.

"My team expects me to win every time I enter the court," Abbas shrugs.

But delivering consistently for club and country have spooked the budding teenager into freezing into a frame. "I don't mind such a thing as I too enter the court in order to win," he adds.

"If I don't win then the team is going to lose."

Pretty much a situation the UAE went through during the past decade when they looked up to their best player Omar Behroozian to win during team competitions.

However, there is a difference this time there is an adequate supply of equally talented players to fill in the slot, should the need arise.

"Things were completely different during Omar's [Behroozian] time," Abbas offers.

"He was all alone and he had to win. But in our case, I have my teammates to support me and chip in whenever needed. We are a formidable team today due to this aspect," he smiles.

And though they have bettered their record of last year, the UAE lads well know they cannot afford to relax. "There is a lot of hard work yet to be done," Abbas states.

"One thing we realise is that we have reached this stage as a team due to the hard work and efforts put in by our coaches [Redha Bussada and Hesham Bramly] and the Tennis Association with all the support they have given us," Abbas says.

"But we need to do more. We need to participate in more competitions, we need to travel more often and we need to concentrate on our fitness levels at the same time," he adds.

"Our work is just about starting. We are on the right track."