Some of Bermuda’s budding tennis stars will take to the courts at WER Joell Stadium for the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association's Spring Fling Tournament on Thursday.

Sponsored by AXA XL, the tournament will feature boys and girls competing over four days in age categories from under-12 to under-18, with 24 entries confirmed for the first jBLTA-sanctioned junior tournament of the year.

The highest number of entries cime in the under-16 boys division, where Bermuda’s Junior Davis Cup stars Zachary McGuire, the No 1 seed, and Tobiah Goodchild will contend for the title alomgside Jaden Jones, Jadon Spriggs, Cyre Trott, Ryan Carruthers, Chase McCrimmon and Ryan Kronenberg.

Tristan Pettit has been ruled out of the tournament due to a fractured finger.

Jones and McCrimmon are also playing in the under-14 competition, together with Ernest Ball and Raul Maldonado.

McGuire is also focusing on the future by playing in the under-18 division, where his opponents in the round-robin format will be Goodchild, Kronenberg, Sebastian Pukk and Trott.

“This will be my last year playing in the under-16s, so I hope I can finish the year off strong before advancing into the next age categories,’’ McGuire said.

“I have been really fortunate to be a part of the BLTA’s national team since I was 12.

“In March, we travelled to the Dominican Republic for the Junior Davis Cup. As the oldest on the team, I was able to play the No 1 spot, so I played ten matches which was very beneficial towards my development, playing against harder competition and different styles.

“I have been working hard this past year playing tennis and football, which I think is actually very helpful to many aspects of my game.”

Nadhira Durham, who will face Kumani Jackson twice in the girls under-18 tournament, has been preparing hard for the event.

“I am looking forward to this tournament because it is an ideal way to test and improve my skills and strategies,’’ Durham said.

“Facing my opponent in this tournament will force me to raise my level of play, utilise tactics and techniques learnt, think fast on my feet and improve my agility.

“It allows me to make use of what I’ve been working on during training and allows me to see how I’ve improved.

“My preparation is training five times a week in the evenings and at 6am in the mornings twice a week, twice on the weekends and participating in as many tournaments as possible.”

One of the tournament’s organisers Sophie Campeau is eager to see the year’s opening event for juniors take off.

“The BLTA tournament committee is excited to kick off the first junior-sanctioned tournament of 2024,’’ she said.

“As always, we are very thankful for our sponsor AXA who renewed their support this year.

“We are looking forward to seeing our junior tennis players display their physical and mental skills and sportsmanship throughout the tournament.

“Tennis is a great sport which you can play at any age and we want to encourage our youth to participate in our events, develop their skills and fitness while having fun.”