AFTER last weekend's conclusion to Bermuda's first-ever world-ranking junior tournament, BLTA president David Lambert said this week that the exercise would be repeated next year.

Tennis's global governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), was apparently well pleased with the organisation of the event, which featured nearly 90 top juniors from 18 nations.

As a result, Bermuda has been guaranteed another world-ranking tournament for next summer, probably to be staged in mid-July.

And there will be more international opposition for local juniors in August, when 20 players from Philadelphia will visit to take part in the Minute Maid Open.

A higher standard of junior tennis play had never been seen in Bermuda before last week and to encounter such high-class opposition had left island youngsters fired up to improve their own levels, said Lambert.

"We saw a lot of our local juniors out there practising, even right after they had lost a match," said Lambert.

"They were practising a lot with the international players and exchanging ideas. Technically speaking, it was great for our youngsters to feel the intensity of the other players and their dedication.

"One of the first things our juniors were saying was, 'we have to intensify our training, we have to get fitter and learn how to play each point as if it's the last'.

"Some of our players did very well and the scores did not always tell the full story. In many cases there were a lot of deuces and close games. What I noticed was that the international players tended to play those big points very hard."

One of the stars of the tournament was 15-year-old American Christy Striplin, who won the girls 18-and-under singles title and also reached the doubles final, partnered by Bermuda's Ashley Brooks.

"Christy told our youngsters that she trains three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon every day," said Lambert.

"She said that if you're not prepared to do that, there is always someone else who is. Not matter how good your strategy and skill is, if you're not fit, it's not going to happen.

"Our own youngsters saw that attitude and will have learned from it. The tournament finished on Saturday and the next day, we had a junior team tennis event. Many of our players were on court an hour before they were due to play, just as they had seen the international players doing."

Lambert felt the island's first Cotec (Caribbean circuit) tournament had been a success, with excellent tennis, good on-court etiquette, efficient officiating, decent spectator turnouts and strong sponsorship, particularly from the Bank of Bermuda Foundation and the Government.

He said the BLTA had requested a date in the first two weeks of July for next year's tournament, to avoid any clash with academic exams. The date will be finalised when ITF officials meet in mid-August.

Of the Bermuda success stories, apart from Brooks reaching the girls' doubles final, was the all-Bermuda final in the 14-and-under boys singles, in which Thomas Svenson defeated Harry Masters 6-2, 6-4.

In the 18-and-unders, Maciek Sykut triumphed beating his fellow American Dylan Arnould 6-4, 6-4 in the boys final, while the girls championship match was also an all-American affair, with Striplin getting the better of Ashley Finnegan by 6-1, 6-1.

Analy Guzman, of Guatemala, was the girls' 14-and-under singles champion following her 6-1, 6-2 final victory over American Caitlin Finnegan.

And Bermuda juniors won't have to wait many more weeks before they get another chance to take on foreign players on home courts.

Steve Carberry will bring a party of 20 top juniors from Philadelphia to compete in the Minute Maid Open at the Government Tennis Stadium, starting on August 11.

"Steve has visited Bermuda several times before and he has a strong camp where he gets some of the top juniors from across the United States," said Lambert.

"He asked the BLTA if we were interested in having an exchange arrangement, by which his juniors would come over here one year and ours would go over there another. We are always looking for additional competition for our juniors."