JUNIOR tennis players from here and abroad have spent their Easter school holidays playing in two prestigious tournaments at the Sawtell Tennis Club.

The club hosted the Rafa Nadal Tour event for the first time, as well as the Sawtell Holiday Classic.

Sawtell Holiday Classic event organiser Eli Baylis explained the importance of hosting the Rafa Nadal Tour.
“It has some of the best under 12s and under 14s players in Australia, and if they win at the final event of the tour, they get to go to the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain,” he said.

“A big thing for us getting to host it is mainly because we have good European style clay courts.”

Baylis said the Sawtell Holiday Classic attracted a good field for the first event.

“It’s the first time we’ve had it here, and it’s a good tournament for those who didn’t qualify for the Rafa Nadal Tour event,” he said.

“There’s more local players in this tournament, and we have cash prizes and under 18s that they don’t offer for the tour event.”

Noah Baylis was one of the local juniors who took part in the Sawtell Holiday Classic on his home court.

“I usually play at Easter time, and I won a tournament here a while ago,” he said.

He nominated playing in a tournament on the other side of Australia as his tennis highlight.

“I’ve been playing since the age of three, and now I’m thirteen,” he said.

“Playing in the Indigenous national tournament in Darwin has been the highlight,” he said.

By Aiden BURGESS