With entries pouring in late to the biggest tennis tournament on the South Coast, attention turns to the main attraction at the South Coast Open, the Open singles event.
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The field on the men’s side is headed by two former winners of the competition in Glenn Knox and Sam Fletcher.
Knox is a former professional player, who reached a career high of 517 in the world.
With Knox’s experience behind him, he heads into the tournament as the clear favourite.
Displaying an uncanny ability to time the ball sweeter than most, Knox will be sure to please the crowd with his huge serve.
Fletcher will be another player to watch at the tournament, having previously won the event.
The crafty lefty will be looking to cause some major damage in both the singles and doubles events.
On the female’s side, young girls dominate the draw.
The top-ranked player will be 15-year-old Ellen Perez from Shellharbour, who is currently ranked 84 in Australia, and also has an ITF ranking.
Nineteen-year-old Ivana Vlakic will be another strong contender for the event as she is currently ranked 101 in Australia.
Another youngster, Grace Nolan, will be a strong threat to the draw, and at the tender age of 16, she already has some impressive results to her name.
However, the top- seeded players won’t be made up entirely of teenagers, with 122- ranked Melissa Anderson hoping to use her 27 years of experience to her advantage.
Lilli Pilli’s Tara Paxton will be the sole local hope in the female Open draw and with a solid ranking of 337 in Australia, she is hoping to cause some upsets over the weekend.
