On Tennis: It may or may not have gone unnoticed over the weekend but a young Spanish teenager called Rafael Nadal took a record from a player even those who have never picked up a tennis racquet would have heard of, a certain Swede called Bjorn Borg.

In the clay-court tournament at Real Club de Tennis Barcelona on Sunday, the 19-year-old Nadal extended his winning streak on the surface to 47 matches, when he successfully defended his title and beat his compatriot Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.

Just a month ahead of his 20th birthday, the teenager already looks like he will be the best Spanish player ever, remarkable considering his age and the inclusion in the equation of such names as Manolo Santana, Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moya and former French open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Nadal has already won 15 titles, including the 2005 Roland Garros title and five prestigious Master Series crowns. On clay he has a record of four wins and one defeat against Roger Federer. Nobody else can match that record against the Swiss world number one over the last two years. During this streak, Nadal has beaten 35 opponents and dropped only three sets in his last 11 matches.

What has not been overlooked in Ireland is Spain's ability to regularly turn out top-100 players as well as the occasional gem like Nadal. As a result a number of young Irish players have been occasionally travelling to Spain, and in particular Barcelona, where they can avail of clay-court experiences Ireland would find impossible to match.

Juniors such as Mark Bowtell, James Magee, Eoin Heavey and Jenny Claffey have all visited the capital of clay-court tennis in an effort to bring their games to a higher level. The weather, the arenas, the access to the courts, the year-round schedule of tournaments for juniors, the "futures" events (lower-tier tournaments for professionals), the numerous coaches who have played tennis at the top level - all combine to make the Barcelona set-up among the best in Europe.

Ironically, the Scottish teenager Andy Murray, who has already been crowned the successor to Tim Henman as Britain's main hope, is a product of the Barcelona school despite the fact that much of the £25-million profit amassed at Wimbledon every year is pumped back into British tennis.

The reality of tennis in Ireland is that along with the technical help at Tennis Ireland's facility in Dublin City University (DCU) and their financing of players, private money as well as that of sponsors is important in helping young players to progress.

In addition to the sport's governing body, The Fitzwilliam Club in Dublin are currently providing one such mechanism for their most talented young members to gain vital experience on Spanish clay courts. They have established a development fund with the specific objective of sending players to Spain for training and coaching.

The plan is already in place, though the five or six players who will avail of the sponsorship have not been finally ratified.

The scheme is 100 per cent funded by the club, and the money, which was raised last year, will go toward aiding these players' careers. With the ground rules for the funding just recently firmed up, the chosen few are likely to be named in the coming weeks.

Fitzwilliam and Real Club de Tennis Barcelona have a close relationship. The two hold annual fixtures with each other and later this year the Spanish club will send an under-17 boys' and girls' side to compete in a four-team tournament in Dublin.

As Ireland has so clearly shown over the years, it is incredibly difficult to push a player to Grand Slam competitive level. Not since Matt Doyle in the 1980s has Irish tennis been able to boast someone who regularly played at the top events.

As financially powerful and motivated as the Fitzwilliam club may be, they promise nothing. It's simply an idea to complement all of the other structures in place in Ireland.

Given that Barcelona is the city where Nadal has chased away another of the ghosts of Borg, they appear, at least, to have begun in the right place.

Fed Cup basement hard to face

Ireland's hopes of playing in a higher group of the Federation Cup lay in ruins after last week's action in Turkey. In part because two of the team's most experienced players, Ann Mall and Kelly Liggin, were unavailable, Ireland sent an inexperienced side to try and fight off relegation into Group Three of the Euro-African zone.

That, however, was always a huge ask, and captain Owen Casey's side lost all three of their matches. The first two pool games against Lithuania and Georgia ended in 3-0 and 2-1 defeats respectively. The crossover match was no better; Ireland lost to Greece, again 2-1, Rachael Dillon and Yvonne Doyle winning the doubles but losing their singles matches.

A promotional place would have earned Ireland the opportunity to play against the likes of Tim Henman and Andy Murray, who play for Britain in the Euro-African Group One. That however, will now have to wait at least two years. Next year Ireland will play along with the likes of Latvia, who were also relegated in Turkey.

Ireland's world ranking is now 57. Georgia are at 52, Lithuania at 60 and Greece at 67.

The Euro-African Group Three is the fifth rung of the Fed Cup ladder, behind the World Group, World Group Two, and Euro-African Groups One and Two.