THE Swan Hill International is underway, with the next generation of tennis stars descending on Swan Hill from across the globe this week.
Widely regarded as the best grass courts in the country, the Ken Harrison Reserve will once again be the centrepiece of the Australian tennis community this week, with men’s and women’s ITF Futures tours calling Swan Hill home.
The first round of both the men’s and women’s singles saw all eight seeds in both draws progress through to the second round, which was played on Thursday, with the final of both singles events to be played on Sunday.
Men’s number one seed Omar Jasika, fresh off victory at the Mildura International, had a comfortable straight sets victory in his opening round match over fellow Australian Jayden Court 7-6, 6-2.
The men’s number two seed Blake Ellis had a much tougher time in his opening round match however, with the Australian coming from a set down to win two tiebreakers and advance after beating New Zealand’s James Watt 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.
Two of the more high profile men’s players remained on a collision course for Friday’s quarter finals after they both secured opening round victories, with Jason Kubler defeating Japan’s Yuichiro Inui in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, while fellow Australian Marc Polmans secured a straight sets win over Jack Bruce-Smith 6-4, 6-3.
Kubler, who has a career high ATP ranking of 63 and Polmans, a regular feature in both the singles and doubles at the Australian Open, are among the leading contenders for the men’s Swan Hill International title.
The women’s number one seed, Lizette Cabrera, had a much tougher time of her opening round match than her male counterpart, defeating compatriot Laquisa Khan in three sets.
After dropping the first set 6-2, Cabrera found form in the second, breezing through 6-1 before claiming the third and deciding set 6-2.
Women’s number two seed Elena Micic made light work of her opening round match against Carolann Delaunay, winning in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, while Japan’s Sakura Hosogi, Korea’s Yeonwoo Ku and the Netherlands Demi Tran also secured straight sets wins.
All players are vying for a share of the $30,000 prizemoney for each of the men’s and women’s draws.
