The top seeds for next week's National Championships both come from Sussex.

Julie Pullin, a two-time champion, and Martin Lee are the favourites to complete a county double at Bolton next week.

Pullin said: "It'll be a bit like Boris Becker and Steffi Graf when they won Wimbledon in the same year except we are a few rungs down the ranking ladder.

"It's great that Sussex has been able to produce the favourites. Martin has really knuckled down and got mentally tougher this year while I am feeling good.

"It proves the county is doing something right. It's exciting and hopefully Martin and I can stand together side by side with the winners trophy. That would be brilliant."

Pullin, the British No.1 from Hove, secured her first singles triumph of the year at the Welsh Open in Cardiff last week.

She said: "That has given me a lift. I haven't won a 25,000-dollar tournament for about three or four years. I've also managed a victory over Elena Baltacha, who people in Britain are looking at as a genuine prospect."

It is a world away from the start of 2001 when Pullin came close to quitting after splitting up with her boyfriend.

"I've come a long way since then. I went through a lot at the beginning of the year but I've worked hard with coach Nigel Sears and I've been away a lot in Spain, Italy and America.

"I'm back on track, feeling good and hopefully I can keep climbing the rankings again (she stands at 177) and am looking to perform well at the Nationals.

"It is an honour to be top seed. I shows I've had the best year of all the British players and hopefully I can win again. It would be fantastic to complete a hat-trick. It'd be a nice way to end the year."

Lee, 23, from East Preston, has come of age this year. After becoming the world's top junior, he has ground his way up the ATP Tour and this year cracked the top 100 in the ATP Champions Race.

He is British No.3 and has won twice for Great Britain in the Davis Cup.

Now, in the absence of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, he will have another new experience as he competes as favourite for the national crown.

He said: "It is no extra pressure really because my own expectations are not high. I've not really done that well at Nationals, getting to the quarters last year and losing to Lee Childs (who eventually won it) when I had a good chance of going all the way is the best I have done up until now.

"Obviously I'm going there to try and win and I believe I can with the way I've been playing and developing this year. I'd love to win my own national championship, but it is not the be all and end all if I don't.

"To be truthful the event has a lower stature than it has had in previous years when Tim and Greg were involved in it.

"British tennis these days is about where Tim and Greg are playing. Everyone wants to know about those two. So at the moment the Nationals are becoming a little outdated."

His main rivals are likely to be Jamie Delgado, Arvind Parmar, Barry Cowan, Lee Childs and Mark Hilton.

He is looking forward to playing Bolton, which is being used as the Nationals' venue for the first time.

"I spent some time practising there last week and I like it. It is a bit smaller than Telford where they have been holding it for years, but the courts are better to play on.