Clay titles the tennis place to be
GOLD Coast’s most promising tennis talents will take on Queensland’s best at the Queensland Open Claycourt Championships.
Starting with Friday’s qualification rounds, the Australian Money Tournament will feature 184 players and be held at Carrara’s KDV Sports and include a prize pool of $7500.
The championships will run until Tuesday and feature twilight finals across the men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and the mixed doubles
There will also be an under-8 Orange Ball competition for boys and girls as well as an under-10 Green Ball event which will both run over Saturday and Sunday.
Sara Tomic is seeded No.1 in the women’s draw with Adam Hecimovic holding top billing in the men’s fixtures.
While it is an open competition many of the Gold Coast’s top juniors will compete, including Fed Cup Foundation Scholarship Program member Olivia Gadecki (Seeded No.2), Thamara Fraser, Maddison Ricardo (Brisbane Age winner), Livvy Devonport, Julia Pisa and Zoey Daggmarr.
In the men’s singles local juniors stepping up include Max Hein, Jack Edmonds, Josef Melzer, Adam Gadecki and Daniel Popescu.
Young guns Massimo O’Hanlon (16), Blake Kebblewhite (23, Surfers Paradise) and Georgios Asimakopoulos (16, Robina) will also compete but must do it by emerging through Friday’s qualifying stages to earn one of the eight men’s spots available in the main draw.
Kebblewhite spent time in the US College tennis circuits and is returning to tournaments after a 12-month absence.