TENNIS twins Freddy and George Ward are doubly determined to succeed.

The 15-year-old brothers, from Southend, have favoured teaming up together over playing singles from the very start of their careers.

And they have their sights set on eventually reaching the very top of the world rankings.

George said: “We first thought about being the best at singles but we couldn’t both be number one so we found doubles and we’ve played that ever since.

“We do row a bit being brothers but it’s good because we gel really well too and know when each other are playing well.

“We bounce off each other quite well and will keep on working hard to try and become the best in the world.”

Despite their young age, the Thorpe Hall School pupils have already secured an incredible amount of success on court.

The brothers have won numerous regional and national titles and will be looking to be crowned county champions for the third season in a row this summer.

On top of that, the Wards have also gained their first ITF world ranking points and are benefitting from being coached by doubles specialist Ken Skupski who is the brother and coach to former doubles world number one Neal.

And George is relishing working with Skupski, who himself won seven titles on the ATP tour.

“It’s been going really well and we’ve improved a lot,” said George.

“We go up to Liverpool where he’s based and we train once every two weeks for the weekend with him.

“It's really good to be able to look up to such a good role model.

“We love watching him and trying to implement what he’s done to our game.

“It’s working so far and we want that to continue.

“We’ve also got a coach at Redbridge called Simon Hasten (check spelling).

“We’re with him every week trying to get better and working really hard.

“We also see Edward Hyde, a personal trainer at ROM Gym, and that really helps us too.”

The keen Southend United fans normally train five days a week but are currently combining being on court with having to take their GCSE exams.

But Freddy – who is named after former Shrimpers star Freddy Eastwood- remains as eager as ever to succeed.

“Our main goal is to be the world number one doubles team and to play at Wimbledon,” said Freddy.

“It’s a prestigious grass court event in England but we’d love to travel the world and experience new places too.

“That’s the long term aim but this year we want to get into more ITF tournaments and win more matches in them as well.

“We’d love to win our first ITF event and that’s the main goal this year.”

However, the Wards, who are sponsored by both Adidas Tennis and Tecnifibre - would not be the first brothers to reach the very top of the sport.

And they remain inspired by the success of the Bryans who are the only doubles team in history to have won every major title in the sport.

“They’re retired now but we still watch the videos and the massive chest bumps they do as well,” said Freddy.

“That’s how we celebrate too when we win!”

>The Ward brothers are still looking for further funding in their bid to reach the top and can be supported online here or on Instagram @wardbrosofficial