THE 2024 local tennis season is off and running.
The trials to select the Under-16 teams to represent the country in the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean Cup served off yesterday evening, and will continue over the next two days at National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua.
Kale Dalla Costa and Em-Miryam Campbell-Smith were exempted from trials and the other six males and six female players are competing in straight round-robin events for the other top places on the teams.
Campbell-Smith is now based in the USA and was unable to return this weekend, while Dalla Costa is still in the process of recovering from the flu.
However, both players should have been selected automatically, anyway.
Campbell-Smith flew the red, white and black flag in both the Junior Billie Jean Cup and World Junior Tennis (U-14) Competition last year, and ended the season fourth in the 14 & under COTECC (Central America and the Caribbean Tennis Confederation) rankings.
Dalla Costa finished 2022 ranked second in COTECC, and he is now the country’s highest ranked male in the 18 & under division —at #1,550 in the International Tennis Federation. Daniel Rahaman, Daniel Dumas, Aaron Subero and Tobagonians Jordell Chapman, Keondre Duke and B’jorn Hall are battling to join the 2019 Caribbean Under-12 champion on the Junior Davis Cup team.
Eva Pasea, Madison Khan, Shiloh Walker and Mohammed sisters, Naomi and Lilly, are involved in the Junior Billie Jean Cup trials, along with the virtually unknown Suraya D’Arbasie. Hall, who spent a lot of time training overseas last year, is expected to finish ahead of the other boys, but the girls’ trial event should be far more competitive.
Shiloh Walker, who improved considerably in the second half of last season and ended the year by reaching the doubles final and lifting the consolation singles title in the Under-14 division of an international tournament in Florida, USA, could be the favourite.
There will be two rounds of matches today and tomorrow and first serve on both days is 9 a.m. The competition was scheduled to begin at 5.30 p.m. yesterday with all 12 players making their debuts.