SERENA Nash is facing the biggest year of her life in 2016.

Not only is the Thackley teenager taking her A Levels but she also hopes to get her first Women's Tennis Association world ranking and gain a place at an American university in the autumn.

The Immanuel College pupil, who turns 18 next month, gained her first world ranking point at the $15,000 tournament at Loughborough in November.

Mum Janet said: "She needs two more points to get a world ranking but she is having to organise her schedule around her school work."

Nash, who has only played 14 matches on the world tour in 15 months due to her education commitments, showed definite signs of progress in 2015.

She won the Tier One Aegon British Tour event at Taunton in early November – the level below International Tennis Federation tournaments at which world rankings can be won – defeating world-ranked Georgian Mariam Bolkvadze 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in a marathon final.

Imbued with confidence after beating the world No 579, the Yorkshire No 2 then became one of five Britons to qualify at Loughborough, defeating fourth-seeded Mexican Sabastiani Leon 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 the following day and Canadian Sandra Dynka 7-5, 7-6 the day after that.

Nash continued her good work in the first-round proper, beating Alexsandrina Naydenova of Bulgaria 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 before losing 7-5, 7-6 to Finland's Mia Nicole Eklund.

Her mum said: "I have never seen Serena play as well as she did in the final at Taunton – even her serve, which can be a bit iffy, was working well.

"She might have done better last year but kept running into Sophie Watts (Aegon British Tour winner at Ilkley)."

Nash, who was the No 1 ranked under-16 girl in Great Britain and is now Yorkshire's leading under-18 girl, is taking history, English literature and media studies at Immanuel and is coached by national coach Laurence Kelly at Halifax Queens and Batley.

Kelly, who captained Andy Murray when Great Britain won the under-14 boys' in the European Team Championship in 2001, is helped in coaching Nash by four-time Yorkshire champion Ellis Ward.

Janet said of her daughter's American options in the autumn: "She is looking at Washington State, plus two others in Texas, and will probably take history or media as her degree."