YORKSHIREMAN Paul Jubb is certainly enjoying himself at the Ilkley Trophy ATP Challenger Tour.

The 19-year-old British wild card is already through to the last 16, having twice drawn on the energy of a packed Centre Court crowd to win three-setters in the $137,560 pre-Wimbledon tournament.

Jubb, who was born in York but raised in Hull, created a big stir in the spring by winning the prestigious NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) title in the United States and is now looking to improve his world ranking of 579.

Had he been American, the achievement would have earned him a wild card into the US Open, and Wimbledon have rewarded him with entry into the main draw.

With a title that has never been won by a Briton before, South Carolina University student Jubb has thus joined the likes of Dwight Davis (founder of the Davis Cup), Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Kevin Curren and Bob Bryan as NCAA men’s singles champions.

Jubb, who has defeated Egor Gerasimov (Belarus) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2 and eighth seed Thiago Monteiro (Brazil) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to progress at Ilkley, faces ninth seed Dennis Novak today.

“I haven’t played on grass in two years but I am enjoying playing in front of a Yorkshire crowd,” said the mobile Jubb, who has quickly become an Ilkley favourite.

The twin targets for Jubb, who is returning to university in the autumn, is to improve his physicality and break into the top 100 of the ATP singles rankings.

And following his Wimbledon wildcard award, he wrote on Twitter: "Beyond happy to play my first @Wimbledon and be given this amazing opportunity. Thx to @the_LTA for all the support and everyone else on this journey with me. As a young lad growing up in Hull it was a big dream to get to SW19."

Six British players in total have been given places in the main draw at Wimbledon, with Jubb joined by Jay Clarke, James Ward, Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Katie Swan, who knocked out second seed Pauline Parmentier in the ITF Women's Futures event at Ilkley.

There was no joy in that competition for British wild card Maia Lumsden, who was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Russian Varvara Flink in the second round.

Lumsden was joined on the British women’s discard pile by Gabby Taylor, who was beaten 6-3, 7-5 by defending women’s champion Tereza Smitkova (Czech Republic).

Other men through to the last 16 early doors are sixth seed Marcello Granollers (Spain), 10th seed Kamil Majchrzak (Poland), and 11th seed Gregoire Barriere (France).