The week-long tournament will start next week next Saturday, February 18, with qualifying, while the main draw will start on Tuesday, February 21, with finals to be held the following Sunday.

Mildura Lawn Tennis Club committee member Mark Vorwerk said Sunraysia residents could expect to see some of the world’s best junior talent with a total prize money pool of $40,000 available.

“This tournament is more about who is going to be big in the future – Bernard Tomic has played here and there’s been a few of those players come here over the years,” Vorwerk said.

“Attracting those sought of players is the best we are probably going to get here.”

Riverland tennis export Luke Saville can expect a strong reception from Sunraysia residents, returning to the Mildura Lawn Tennis Club courts after winning the Australian Open boys singles title last month at Melbourne Park.

He also won the 2011 Wimbledon Championship boys singles title.

2008 Mildura champion Brydan Klein will also return to compete in this year’s event.

Currently ranked 453 in the world, Klein will be hoping for a strong tournament to kick-start his 2012 campaign.

In the women’s draw, world number 196 Isabella Holland, Sacha Jones (229) and Sally Peers (276) will be the headline Australian acts.

The event is part of the Australian Pro Tour, offering up and coming players the chance to earn ranking points to get on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour and the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour.

In its fifth year, Vorwerk said the quality of the venue continued to attract top-quality players to the region for the week. “We’re the only grass court venue of the Australian Pro Tour so it says a lot about the grass courts here,” he said.

“There wouldn’t be a venue like this – this would be unparalleled in Australian terms so it’s a good venue.

“This kind of tournament will allow us to prove to Tennis Australia that we can handle the Davis Cup or the Fed Cup.”

Men’s and women’s singles tournaments will be the feature events, with 64 in the qualifying draw before it is trimmed down to 32 for the main draw. There will be 16 doubles teams in the main draw.

This article appeared in Wednesday's Sunraysia Daily 8/2/2012.