Some of Bermuda’s rising 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 entries confirmed for the first BLTA-sanctioned singles junior tournament of the year.

In the boys under-18 event, the competition is tough with Bermuda’s Junior Davis Cup team-mates Tobiah Goodchild, Jadon Spriggs and Tristan Pettit challenging champion Zachary McGuire and No 2 seed Sebastian Pukk for top honours. Cyre Trott and Kyan Hands are also in contention.

McGuire put on a dominant display to win the under-16 and under-18 age groups last year in a tournament witnessed by John Goede, the International Tennis Federation development officer for the Caribbean.

The 16-year-old, who is also enjoying life playing football for St George’s Colts in the Premier Division, is eager to get back on court with his peers.

“I’m looking forward to the tournament this weekend,” McGuire said.

“It will be good to see a lot of tennis players competing at home, against one another, after recently coming back from international tournaments.

“I have been working on taking my game to the next level, focusing on improving my serve and backhand.

“I've been preparing by maximising my time on court with morning and evening sessions, as well as playing football, cross training to give me the best chance of winning.”

Pettit expressed his excitement to play after missing last year with injury.

“I am thrilled to at last be able to compete with a healthy body after a series of injuries, first my broken finger then a six-month break for my shoulder,” the 15-year-old said.

“Having just returned from Guatemala from the Junior Davis Cup, I can’t wait to see how I can apply what I learnt there in this tournament.

“I signed up for the under-18 category as I want to see how well I can measure up against great players such as Sebastian Pukk and Zach McGuire. Tennis is a continuous learning journey.”

Will Britten, Spriggs, Goodchild and Christopher Madeiros are the competitors in the under-16 boys division.

Fresh from representing Bermuda at the ITF World Junior Tennis in Dominican Republic, Trystan Thompson and Manuel Maldonado are the players to watch out for in the boys under-12. The six players have been split into two groups of three, with Thompson and Maldonado kept apart.

Lee Terceira, Francesca Cressall-Haycock, Chloe McBrearty, and Arianna Parra Delgado are the contestants in the girls under-12.