Kirkland can officially boast to having three of the world’s best youth tennis players.

Spencer Furman, Henrik Wiersholm and Jake Devine were recently selected to a USTA tournament for the top 12-year-olds in the country to compete for spots to the Les Petits tennis tournament in Tarbes, France Jan. 21-31. Les Petits is one of the premier junior tennis tournaments in the world, with former participants such as Roger Federer and 2000 winner Rafael Nadal.

So for Central Park to boast three of the participants competing for slots, well, it’s a bit to brag about.

“It’s obviously a huge deal,” said Dan Willman, an instructor at Central Park. “Their work ethic is remarkable. They all push each other to the next level here.”

While Devine was forced to drop out of the qualifying tournament, held in mid-December in Boca Raton, Fla., Furman and Wiersholm did compete and eventually met in a deciding match for a tournament slot.

Furman won 7-5, 6-4 over Wiersholm, ranked No. 2 in the country, to earn one of the two spots up for grabs.

“Spence is playing phenomenal,” Willman said. “He’s just on a hot streak.”

For Furman and Wiersholm, it was just the latest battle in their great rivalry, which this summer saw Furman fall four times.

“When Spence lost to Henrik all of those times, it made him hungry,” Willman said. “It’s tough when those guys battle, they battle almost daily. It’s a bitter pill to swallow.”

Following the USTA tournament, Furman traveled to the Orange Bowl, another of the world’s largest junior tournaments, and reached the semi-finals, where he lost to the No. 1 junior in the world, Stefan Kozlov 3-6, 6-1, 3-6. Kozlov recently won the U.S. and World Nike Junior tournaments and has been undefeated in 12’s competition for one year.

“I don’t think anyone from our area has gotten to the semi’s before,” Willman said. “That’s considered one of the top junior tournaments in the world.”

The trip to Les Petits will be the first international tournament for Furman with the USTA, Willman said.

“He’s just pumped up,” he said. “It’s obviously going to be a great experience for Spence, and you never know how he’s going to do. He’s extremely talented, reads the court well and he’s a good mover. He’s very tenacious.”