Tennis Open 2007

Hands up if you seriously believe Andy Murray's ever going to win Wimbledon? Okay, the fiery Scottish teenager has blazed a trail into the world Top 15, but he's surely still more likely to spend the next 15 years flopping in the quarter or semi finals, just like Tiger Tim.

Of course, if Andy goes ahead and wins the tournament this summer, I'll just have to eat my words (or at least rewrite this intro). But my money's still on an early exit, possibly accompanied by a big sweary tantrum and at least a couple of smashed rackets.

Talking of which... tantrums are one of Tennis Open 2007's selling points. Sometimes, when a player loses a point, he chucks his racket at the floor in anger, while his opponent indulges in a spot of fist-pumping joy. It's a tiny visual touch really, which doesn't add anything to the gameplay, but it shows the craft and attention to detail that's gone into this splendid game.

Admittedly, Tennis Open 2007 isn't exactly the most original treatment of tennis. It's more Virtua Tennis than the official mobile version of Virtua Tennis is, what with its career mode, rankings system and training mini-games.

We loved the 3D version of Virtua Tennis Mobile Edition when we reviewed it last year, but Tennis Open 2007 is really going up against the 2D version of that game, which we've not reviewed. We have however downloaded it for comparative purposes for this review, and it's clear that Gameloft's is by some distance the better game.

At the heart of why we love it is its slick control system. Your player has eight-way movement around the court, with you having to get him into the right position for where the ball is going to land – signified by a white cross.

However, once in position, the cross turns red, and from now on your button presses control your shot placement, with '1' being the back-left of your opponent's court, '2' being the back centre and so on. '0' hits a lob, while pressing a directional button twice hits a sliced shot.

It works smoothly, and most importantly the pace is up to speed: no slo-mo jerkiness here.

The excellent Career mode is where you'll spend most of your playing time, hauling yourself to the top of the world rankings by competing in tournaments, while training up your skills and taking the odd rest to build up your stamina. Your player has five skills – Technique, Control, Serve, Speed and Power – which are improved through simple mini-games.

Perhaps the best thing about Tennis Open 2007 – besides those on-court tantrums – is the feeling of progression as you play through the game, improve your skills and rise in the rankings. You can start pulling off some marvellous cross-court slices and booming serves, although at the same time your opponents become better at sending you scurrying around the court.

There are distinct playing styles too, with some players coming in close to the net, while others lurk at the baseline – forcing you to mix and match your tactics for each new match.

If you're looking for sexy 3D visuals in a mobile tennis game, don't look here – Virtua Tennis should be your first port of call. But much like Gameloft's original 2D Midnight Pool kicked the arse of several snazzier 3D rivals, so Tennis Open 2007 is the slickest, most playable mobile tennis game we've seen. Ace, in other words.