SAWTELL Tennis Club has hosted its biggest annual tournament.

Top tennis players from across NSW and Queensland vied for titles at the Sawtell Seaside Open.

This year’s event was played over four days as junior players spent their school holidays playing off at Sawtell.

Sawtell Seaside Open Tournament Director Eli Baylis described some of the details of this year’s tournament.

“We had 135 entries, with under 10s up to under 16s and then up to the open’s events,” he said.

“We had players from all over the state and Queensland and different places like Lord Howe Island.

“Entries in all country tournaments are down at the moment, but 130 for a country tournament this day and age is actually pretty good.”

He said the local contingent had done well playing at their home tournament.

“There have been a lot of locals involved, and they have done pretty well as we had local players in pretty much all the finals,” he said.

“We had about 35 Sawtell players involved who made up a big part of the draws and they did really well.”

Baylis described what made the Sawtell Seaside Open such a popular event.

“It’s had a bit of history, the Seaside Open, and it’s been going since 1978 and has been one of the biggest country tournaments in Australia for a long time,” he said.

By Aiden BURGESS