Coming off the back of her best season to date the young Briton is continuing her journey up the ranks to reach the top of the game.

Last year she secured her first professional singles title at the W35 Traralgon in Australia, was on the cusp of qualifying for her first main draw at Wimbledon and reached a new career-high ranking of world No.235.

Banks has shown she has the game to compete at a high level with top players, having finished runner-up at the W100 Shrewsbury event in 2023 and also making semi-finals at three ITF $75k events last year.

As she gets set to kick-start her 2025 campaign this week – we caught up with the British rising star to find out more about the upcoming season, her tennis journey and the progress she’s made over the last 12 months.

“At the start of the year I unfortunately got ill,” Banks said, commenting on her late start to the season. “I had tonsillitis for a couple weeks, but now that I'm back training I feel really good in terms of where my games at.

“I got a lot of work done over pre-season back home so physically and with my tennis I'm feeling really good.

“(This year) I want to be getting into the qualifying of Grand Slams based on my own ranking – that is the goal for this year. I think the more consistently I can be on court the results will come.

“I know my tennis is there. It's just a matter of getting me on court and being able to compete and compete at my highest level week after week.”

From the courts of Bolton to Wimbledon, Banks’s journey to this stage of her career started at the age of three where she discovered her love for the sport.

After years training at the Bolton Arena, Banks and her family made a big decision to help her continue to progress towards her dream of becoming a professional player.

“I was there (Bolton Arena) for quite a while, up until the age of 13 – that's when I headed to Spain,” Banks said.

“My parents made the decision that they just wanted me to get some experience on the clay outdoors. I spent a year and a half in Alicante and then another year and a half in Barcelona. I boarded there, while my parents and siblings stayed at home, but I got a lot of good experience on the clay there and I think it really helped with my game playing outdoors as well.

“When I came back to the UK around age 17, I based myself back in Manchester and back at Bolton Arena where I started. I’ve been there since with my coach, Suzi Riley, who I've known since I was very young.

“I'm basing myself there most of the time, but then come to the National Tennis Centre before tournaments to practice with the girls here, which is really good.”

Banks is supported by our Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – the highest level of support on offer for players aged 16-24 with the potential to break into the ATP or WTA top 100.

As part of that support, Banks gets access to all the facilities and performance staff at the LTA’s NTC and during her training, has the chance to play and compete with other players carving their own careers on the tour.

“The resources I have at the National Tennis Centre are great – I’m very lucky to have access to all of this,” Banks admitted. “It's definitely helpful in terms of recovery, the support from everyone here as well. I know not a lot of people do have access to things like this – to have it all here is really helpful.

“All the girls are doing really well. Even some of the younger players as well. Everyone's at a good level so to be able to hit with the girls here has been really good. I think it definitely helps with both mine and like all their games when we're competing against each other – it's very competitive.

“Everyone's super nice as well, I get along with everyone so it's a really nice environment to be in.”

Last year, Banks got a taste of the Grand Slam experience as she battled her way into the final round of qualifying for The Championships, Wimbledon.

The young Brit defeated former world No.10 Kristina Mladenovic and American Kayla Day before narrowly missing out on place in the main draw to Canada’s Marina Stakusic.

Despite the disappointment of not making the final cut for SW19 and the chance compete at her home Slam, Banks took plenty away from the experience that will stand her well going forward.

“I was on centre court at Roehampton for the first two rounds and it was probably the biggest crowd I've played in front of,” she said.

“I didn't know how I was going to react to that but I ended up really enjoying it and I actually felt like I played some of my best tennis. That was a really good experience to have knowing I do thrive in those situations.

“Just having that experience and hitting against the top girls and knowing I can compete at that level was definitely a big confidence booster for me. I'm just looking forward to getting back out on the court this year and hopefully being in more of those situations.

Banks has made strong progress up the levels in recent years – rising from the ITF $15k events that many players start at during their professional careers, to now regularly competing at the $100k level and knocking on the door of the WTA Tour.

But as you continue to jump through the ranks, the competition only gets better and better – and there’s one specific factor that Banks claims is the biggest difference.

“The mentality of these girls is incredible,” she claimed. “Every match, you know it’s going to be a tough.

“It's not really about who has a better forehand or backhand. It's just who can problem solve the best in situations and who can really stay at it and stick at it mentally throughout every match and tournament after tournament.

“I'm still trying to become a lot stronger mentally and put that forward as much as I can on the match court, on the practice court.

“It's something I am getting better at and there's still a lot of work to be done but I'm feeling confident once I crack that I can compete at that level more consistently.”