Juniors get intensive training

Chris Rego and Eva Frazzoni were invited by regional development officer Anthony Jeremiah to train with the region’s elite. During the camp the local junior tennis stars were versed on crucial elements of the game such as capitalizing on the “big point”.

David Lambert, Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) president, explained: “Mr. Jeremiah invited top players from the region (Caribbean) where they will be working on clay. The basic drills will include stroke production, fitness, strategy, the psyche of the game and how to play for the big point.

Earlier this year Frazzoni and Rego helped Bermuda successfully defend its Under 13 team title at the Caribbean Championships in Aruba where the latter captured the boy’s singles crown

Lambert believes the pair’s experiences in Cuba will bode well for their development.

He said: “They learn more about themselves and understand what it takes to be the best they can be and also realize that to be the best they can be there’s a considerable amount of work that’s going to take place.

“I think all of our national players are beginning to realize that to be the best they can be it’s a year round training process – you can’t turn it on or off. You have to watch your fitness, your training as well as your diet. It’s where our athletes are right now and a lot of this knowledge is obtained by travelling to these ITF world training camp.

“You are there because you are one of the best and to be even better and to be among other players that are just as good as you, you have to accept the attitude of ‘I want to do all I can do to be my best’. It’s also very good for Bermuda tennis because we are being recognized by the ITF who are beginning to realize there’s quite a bit of talent on the island where we are seeing our juniors playing more tennis on a regular basis at a younger age — thanks to programmes like the ACE school initiatives that introduces tennis to the five, six or seven year olds.”

Money

To raise funds to go towards sending the island’s youth players overseas to compete, the BLTA is staging a Grand Slam of wine and raffle this Thursday at Gosling’s Wine Cellar (5:30pm).

Tickets are $50 per person with ten percent of all purchases made on the night to be donated to the BLTA. Lambert added: “We have some of Bermuda’s former top players that are going to be assisting us with the draw. We really appreciate all the support that we have and continue to receive from the general public in helping our young players continue to travel to represent Bermuda.”