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Bermuda's top young tennis players will have the chance to test themselves against rising stars from as far afield as Russia and Brazil in next week's Bank of Bermuda Foundation ITF championships.

Neal Towlson, 15, and Nicholas Butterfield, 17, have been awarded two of the 26 automatic spots in the opening round of 32 for the junior world ranking tournament, being held for the seventh time in Bermuda.

A bevy of talented young local players will also compete in the qualifying round in a bid to win one of the final six places in the tournament proper.

Bermuda tennis boss David Lambert said the depth and quality of the tournament, particularly the boys Under-18 section, was particularly high this year.

The likes of Barbados' Darion King, currently ranked 192 in the world, America's Ian Lester and Bahamian Rodney Carey are all expected to challenge for the title.

But Lambert believes 15-year-old Towlson, who will attend the Evert Tennis Academy in Florida, has the talent to compete with the best of them.

"I'm hoping he can make the later rounds - the quarter-finals would be a big achievement because he is up against some very good players. These are some of the top juniors in the world."

Bermuda has had success at this tournament in the past with Gavin Manders, now one of the island's top senior players, reaching the final as a junior.

But Lambert stressed that the key goal for most of the local participants would be to see how they measure up against quality overseas opponents.

"This is an extremely important tournament for us in terms of development because it gives our coaches and players the chance to see how they do against opponents from around the world on their own soil."

While Lambert believes making it to the first or second round would be a big achievement for the bulk of the young players in the Under-18 boys and girls draw, big things are expected of some of the youngsters in the Under-14 tournaments.

Bermuda's Tyler Smith is currently ranked as the number one junior in her age-group in the Caribbean and she will be one of the favourites in the Girls U14 draw. Tipped as a future star, Smith has already won tournaments in Panama and Barbados and will be one to watch among the local contingent at next week's tournament.

"I think people will be pleasantly surprised to see how much the tournament has grown. The Under-18 boys section is particularly strong but we have a lot of young players coming from overseas in the Under-14s as well."

Under-18 girls

In the Girls Under-18s Zaire Simmons and Sarah Maybury are the two Bermudians currently entered into the opening round, though Lambert hopes to confirm a few others before the tournament starts on Monday.

Contenders in the boy under-14 tournament include Courtland Boyle and Christopher Rego. Play starts at 10am each day at the WER Joell tennis stadium wit the finals slated for Friday and Saturday.

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