Emily Appleton on a challenging and rewarding tennis trip to Caribbean

The life of a new tennis pro fighting to climb up the rankings does not come without a few battles and sacrifices, on and off the court...

Even in the stunning surroundings of two French Caribbean islands.

Sky Sports Scholar Emily Appleton reveals her lively start to 2018....

Overnight rain delays in Martinique, no water supply in Guadeloupe, three finals and another tennis title…It was certainly an experience on these Caribbean islands I'll never forget!

What a way to get stuck into the new year. The start of January had me reflecting on the highs and lows of 2017, setting new goals and travelling to two places I had never been to and I was so excited to get going.

The first of the two tournaments was in Fort de France, Martinique. I got off to a good start beating an Ecuadorian girl in the first round of the singles comfortably, before beating an American to make the quarter-finals.

I was then up against a very experienced high-quality French girl who had won this tournament two years before and had a career-high ranking of inside the top 250. I played an exceptional match and came through 6-3 3-6 7-6 to reach the semi-final.

Next up was the No 1 seed from France, ranked 405. I played another high-level match and despite a rain delay taking it to a second day, I won 6-4 6-3 to reach my second singles pro final. These last two wins were probably the best in my career and it's so rewarding to see the hard work paying off.

In the doubles I partnered American Caty McNally, who I had success with last year and we got through to make the final of this event too.

After a week of loads of rain delays it was the big day and I was pumped to be in both finals!

In the singles I faced a Swiss girl ranked 450 and despite playing a hard-fought match I just lost out in three sets. We also just missed out on the doubles title losing 7-5 7-6.

Although it wasn't the finals day I had hoped for I was extremely happy with my performances and I was excited about playing on the neighbouring island Guadeloupe the following week.

My first day there was certainly one I won't forget in a while.

After arriving, a shower was top priority but because of a water outage in the local town this proved to be a little tricky! Some of the players had to use bottled water to wash but thankfully the water came back within a couple hours.

I won my first two rounds in the singles fairly easily to make the quarter-finals where I had to really dig in and battle through three sets against another experienced French girl to reach another semi-final.

I was facing the same girl who beat me the week before in Martinique and unfortunately she proved a little too strong after three hours in the gruelling 32 degrees.

It was tough to lose another three-setter to the same player but I was very happy with my level of tennis.

For my doubles, I was with Caty again for the second tournament in a row and we eased through the two opening rounds to make the final.

After my three-hour battle in the singles my body was struggling but we still played our best match and won the title after a 6-3 6-0 victory. It was my fifth doubles title.

It was a very successful two weeks and I was really happy to make three out of four finals and win another title.

As well as the wins, I'm really pleased after proving to myself that I can still play great tennis and to a high level despite some really difficult conditions and circumstances which is very encouraging.

These victories will also earn me two new career high ranking positions and it is safe to say that my French speaking skills have been revitalised!