TEEN tennis talent Ashley Brooks plans to stay in Bermuda for the summer - even though her mother Kim Lewis is leaving later this month to start a new life in the US Virgin Islands.

And Ms Lewis revealed that even if and when Ashley too moves to the Caribbean, she would like her daughter to continue to represent her native Bermuda in international competition.

Brooks, who turned 14 last month, attends Zan der Meer Tennis School in South Carolina and is considered a certain Federation Cup player of the future.

But should she get residency in St. Croix, for which her mother intends to apply, she is likely to be snapped up by the USVI Fed Cup squad.

This summer Brooks played for Bermuda in the Junior Fed Cup in the Dominican Republic and her mother believed she might not quite be ready for the step up to full senior international level by the time next year's Fed Cup comes around.

Ms Lewis said: "There is nothing I would like more than for her to play for Bermuda. She is Bermuda-born and that is the country I think she should play for.

"I am not sure she will be ready to play Fed Cup next year though. I saw her play Junior Fed Cup in Santo Domingo and she did well and I'd like to see her play that again next year.

"I keep tight reins on her development and I think sometimes they can push juniors in too quickly. There is a chance of injury."

Ms Lewis added that her daughter had suffered from tendinitis and that she had to be selective about what tournaments she played.

Brooks has been playing in the Colonial Open at Pomander Gate this week and at the time of writing she was preparing for a tough semi-final singles clash with Heineken Open champion Deborah Cheng, 20 years her senior.

She had also reached the last eight of the mixed doubles, partnered by Davis Cup player Jenson Bascome and the quarter-finals of the ladies doubles with partner Zarah DeSilva.

The finals will be played today and tomorrow.

Brooks was at Palma Tennis Academy in Florida, but the whole school relocated to the Zan der Meer Tennis School on Hilton Head Island - and Brooks said she preferred the new set-up.

"I like it there," she said this week. "It's a bit stricter and I like the way the coaches are always on you. It's a little bit bigger and more organised and I get a lot of personal attention. When I'd been there just a week, I felt my game had improved."

Brooks said her daily routine was school from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by tennis from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

She said the school was international in flavour and she knew fellow students from as far afield as France, Australia and Finland.

Brooks said she had decided to stay in Bermuda for the summer until she has to return to Zan der Meer at the end of August. She will stay here with her father.

"I didn't really want to move from Bermuda right now," she said. "I really want to defend my Argus Open title (in July) and I have been offered a couple of jobs teaching tennis to kids."