Julie Pullin's career has been saved with a little help from her friends, family and supporters in the county.

Her world fell apart when she split from her fiance.

It threatened to devour the hopes and dreams of the 25-year-old left-hander from Hove.

Suddenly, two national singles titles, an Olympic experience, a world high ranking of 125 and, for one week, the British No.1 title meant nothing.

Competing in the Australian Open was not an option. Nor was picking up a racquet. Her career was cut adrift. She did not want to carry on, she did not know how to carry on.

Pullin has now decided to clutch a lifeline thrown by her Sussex support group.

Lewes-based Nigel Sears, coach to WTA Tour stars like Amanda Coetzer and Barbara Schett, offered his services and the Brighton Health and Racquets Club their facilities.

With some 'tlc' from her nearest and dearest to buoy her, she began the repair work at Falmer and played her first singles match in ten weeks, which she won, at a low key tournament in Tipton in the Midlands. Recently she managed to win the doubles event with Lorna Woodroffe (Surrey) at Redbridge with a 6-1, 6-3 victory against top seeds Tina Krizan (Slovenia) and Irena Selvytina (Kazakhstan).

It is progress from the black emotional hole she was in just before Christmas.

Pullin said: "The state I was in there was no way I could consider playing. At the time, you just don't think it is going to get any better even though everyone tells you it will. For a while you don't want to do anything, you think it's the end of the world.

"There was the tennis gossip which was hard to deal with. It was on the grapevine so quickly.

"But the main thing was that with my relationship breaking down, everything else broke down as well.

"I also lost my home, my training base and my coach, Leighton Alfred, whom I thought the world of, because my ex-fiance works with him and there was no way it would have worked because of that. Everything was gone.

"It wasn't as if I could get stuck into my tennis because it just wasn't possible. You have to have a set-up to do that and I didn't have one. I didn't know how I could carry on."

She moved back from her Midlands base to the refuge of the family home in Hove. It was the start of the healing process.

Pullin said: "My family got me through it. Everyone was so supportive, like you wouldn't believe. It put things in perspective.

"Whatever happens, you've got family and friends. It would have been awful if they hadn't been around. They were there for me."

We sat in the cosy front room of her parents' semi as mum Andrea slept upstairs and father Alan got on with some DIY.

The Morecambe and Wise videos were mixed with framed family pictures on the shelves. A trophy cabinet packed with mementoes of Pullin's career was in the corner.

There was, not surprisingly, a sadness in her eyes. Her complexion blushed a little occasionally but through it all she maintained her composure.

She said: "I wouldn't have spoken to you while it was all going on, I wasn't speaking to anyone."

But she is speaking to a few people now, like the LTA women's manager Keith Wooldridge, who set up a meeting with Sears which led to her practising on the courts and working out in the gym at Falmer. She had a set-up again, even if it was just for a few weeks given that Sears is an in-demand coach.

She said: "I'm taking it step by step. But Nigel's help came at the perfect time as I was just coming round to thinking about what I was going to do. He said a few things that really hit home. Suddenly I could see a way forward. For a while, I was struggling to see one.

"He told me, 'It's happened, here are your choices, it's up to you. If you're going to play, now is a good time to start because the longer you leave it the harder it is going to get'."

The year 2001, even if the Pavilion and Avenue member tottered tentatively into it, is starting to take shape for the British No.2.

Tipton was a warm up for the bigger events at Redbridge and Sutton with Wimbledon, not too far away, a realistic first big target.

Pullin is moving on and believes her domestic break-up may prove a positive.

She said: "Things happen for a reason. I believe it will make me tougher and I'll come back stronger."