HOW dare that man at the Daily Mail say Heather Watson is from Jersey. I’m delighted his email inbox has been clogged with complaints.

But, in truth, it was one small error in quite a week of national and international media exposure for our ‘Little Heath’ (pictured right).

Her name has been cropping up everywhere, which must have been music to the ears of the bigwigs at Sportingbet, who deserve to take a bit of credit for the girl’s remarkable rise through the ITF world junior rankings.

As mother Michelle Watson outlined to The Independent this week, the family are indebted to those who back her and the Sportingbet association has provided Heather with the means to get exposure to regular international tournament play.

The costs of producing a top tennis player are exorbitant, Mrs Watson told the national newspaper.

‘In Guernsey, we seem to have the most expensive little bit of ocean to cross, judging by the cost of ferries and planes,’ her mother said.

‘We have three older children and have paid for them to go to school and on to university, but that’s been nothing to what we’ve had to spend on Heather.

‘It costs $48,000 [about £33,600] a year at the academy in Florida and $15,000 [£10,500] at the school she attends there – and that’s just for the basics.’

Sportingbet have provided the Watsons with £25,000 a year and, judging by the comments of the company’s managing director [Europe] Bob Dutnall this week, they are very happy with their investment in this superb talent and delightful ambassador for Guernsey sport.

‘We knew Heather had enormous potential, and it is only down to the incredible support from her family that she had got as far as she had.

‘However, she had reached the point where if she was going to develop further, she needed to be competing in the top international events, and for that players need a lot of financial backing. At the time it felt like the right thing to do for Sportingbet.

‘It has been an incredible journey for Heather since then.  She’s gone from being someone who everyone could see had talent, to being in the last eight of a Grand Slam event. As a company, knowing that you have played a part in that, you just cannot help but to be proud. And it is great for Guernsey as well.’

So true Bob, and all round, it’s been a good week for Sportingbet, whose money enabled CI sport to showcase its rich talent at Beau Sejour on Thursday night.

Alison Merrien’s capture of the top award was no less than she deserved and by all accounts she finished well clear of the chasing pack.

I was also impressed by the maturity of  young cyclists Dan Arblaster and James McLaughlin, who were quickly into gear to praise the men at the Velo Club who have got them to where they are.