IRELAND'S top full-time tennis professional Scott Barron (21) aims to improve his ATP points position this week on the satellite circuit of Thailand. He started promisingly yesterday with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Romanian Micheil Calugara.

Meanwhile, Tennis Ireland is to put greater emphasis on the marketing of its major fixtures such as Davis Cup and European team championships. A leading sports management team has been engaged to attract major sponsorship.

The association's president, Kay Stanton, says: "We believe that tennis offers the corporate sector many opportunities in Ireland which have not been fully exploited."

The initial success of Tennis Ireland's new project will be judged largely on the response to next month's Women's European team championship in Belfast and the corresponding men's event at the Fitzwilliam club.