28 March 2013 | Tennis Victoria

Some of the best Australian tennis players will descend on Dendy Park Tennis Club, Breen Drive in Brighton for the 2013 Victorian Claycourt Championships to be held from 2-6 April 2013.

The tournament will bring together some of the best rising stars and established players who will fight it out for $10 000 prize money and valuable ranking points.

“We are very excited by the calibre of players the tournament has attracted, I believe this is the strongest field assembled in AMT (Australian Money Tournament) Platinum history not just in Victoria but Australia-wide,” said Tournament Director Andrew Reynolds.

“This event is one of the premier tournaments on the Victorian tennis calendar. Many of the players are on the cusp of professional tennis while several have an ATP or WTA ranking, so we are expecting some great, competitive tennis across the five days.”

Local hope and No.2 seed James Lemke (Camberwell) says the event will be “a good test” for himself as he looks to build on an impressive 2013, but will face stiff competition from former junior world No.1 Jason Kubler (QLD) and rising star Jordan Thompson (NSW).

“It’s great for the tournament to be getting some of the guys who are playing full-time on the Futures tour, it’s a good test to know where you’re at and how you’re playing,” said Lemke.

“A lot of the players are about to head overseas, so they will be using the tournament to get some good competition before then.”

Victorian hopefuls Ryan Thomas (Beaumaris), Aaron Leeder-Chard (Mount Eliza), Daniel Ferretti (Hillside) and Mark Polmans (Maribyrnong) are all are seeded for the tournament and will be looking for a good showing in their home state.

Five of the top 20 ranked females in Australia will compete in the women’s draw, with Victorians Azra Hadzic (Keysborough), Sally Peers (Glen Waverley) and Viktorija Rajicic (Delahey) making up the top three seeds.  Fellow Victorians Nives Baric (Ascot Vale) and Belinda Woolcock (Mornington) are seeded for the event and will be looking for a big tournament.

Qualifying for the event will begin on Tuesday 2 April while the main draw starts Thursday 4 April. Full results can be found here.