Imani Phillips could move one step closer to becoming a pickleball professional when she enters the qualifying tournament at the Daytona Beach Open in Florida on Thursday.

Phillips, one of the 1, 417 players registered for the Professional Pickleball Association Tour event, entered in the women’s pro qualifier singles alongside 33 other women. Playing well will secure the Bermudian a spot in the main draw, with a chance to play in the final on Sunday.

If she qualifies for the main draw, Phillips faces the prospects of meeting Eugenie Bouchard, a former professional tennis player from Canada, who reached the final of Wimbledon in 2014 before switching codes last year.

“This is my first pro singles tournament and I’m doing the open singles division,’’ Phillips said.

“I've to qualify from a group of 34 women that are in the qualifying round. Eight will go through to the main draw, so I’ve prepared myself for a long day and I'm ready to fight.

“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a very long time and I’m just excited to see what happens.

“The championship final is on Sunday, and that’s where I want to end up. I’m just going to keep persevering so that I can get there.”

After winning two gold medals and a silver in last month’s National Pickleball Championships, Phillips headed to Fort Myers to continue training.

“I have spent five hours on court every day working with my coach Hercilio Cabieses,” she said.

“I've had an amazing journey over the last two weeks getting to know my game. I've worked on mental toughness, really getting me to a place when I can compete at a professional level and coming up with competitive strategies.”