The island’s future tennis stars were in action at the National Tennis Centre last Sunday during the Barbados Tennis Association’s Tennis 10s Festival.
Sponsored by Island Heritage, DaCosta Mannings and Powerade, the third annual tournament attracted more than 70 boys and girls, between the ages of seven and ten, competing in three divisions.
Players of varying skill levels were divided into red, orange, and green ball categories and engaged in several exciting matches on the mostly modified hardcourts at the National Tennis Centre.
While the green ball players fought their battles on regular-sized courts, the orange and red ball players competed on reduced courts in single-set matches.
From the early rounds, eight-year-old Aaron Jones of Providence Primary and seven-year-old Serena Bryan of West Terrace Primary appeared to be among the most promising players and went on to win their divisions.
While Jones showed awareness of a crafty net game, attacking the net to subdue his opponents, Bryan produced some well-placed baseline shots as she stopped her opponents with a telling forehand.
In all, more than 150 matches – playing to seven, nine and 11 points – were contested during the festival.
Assistant secretary of the Barbados Tennis Association Margot Thomson said the tournament was modelled after the world governing body’s Play and Stay programme and was a tremendous success.
“We want to encourage all the young ones to keep playing as they will all get better,” she said. (BB)