Gunnedah's Mason Louis and Narrabri's Lacey Bourke will be looking to serve it up to their city rivals when they take to the court in Sydney on Saturday in the annual City v Country Challenge.
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Played at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre, the tournament will pit the best under-10 and under-12 players from the country against the best from Sydney.
Gunnedah based-coach Craig Louis said it will be a fantastic opportunity for the pair on and off the court. They will also attend an advanced coaching clinic and have the chance to watch the opening matches of the inaugural ATP Cup.
[Mason] Louis' sister Amarni was also selected in the Country team but has had to withdraw through injury.
She was recently part of the North West Tennis team that competed at the Queensland Junior Teams Carnival.
It's the first time the region has entered teams in the four day event, which was played across four age divisions - under-11, under-13, under-15 and under-17 and saw the players play a mix of singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
"It was a fantastic event. We really enjoyed it," [Craig] Louis said.
He was one of four managers of the team and said it was a great learning experience for the players.
"It was great for them to be around different players, and playing at different venues that they've never played at," he said.
He said it was also good for them to get an opportunity to play some doubles.
"A lot of kids in NSW play a lot of singles but don't play a lot of doubles, which improves their net game," he said.
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The teams event was run in conjunction with a silver-level individual tournament.
"That was good. They got the team environment in the morning and in the afternoon an opportunity to earn ranking points and play against players they don't usually play against," Louis said.
He and co-managers Justin Sheriff, Jarrod Campbell and Dale Martin were really happy with how the 24-strong team performed.
The under-17s finished third, under-11s eighth, under-13s 13th and the under-15s seventh.
There were also some good performances in the individual tournament with several players reaching the quarter-finals in their respective age groups, which was a great effort he said.
NORTH WEST TEAM
Under 17s: Aaron Osmond, Ben Bulter, Zachery Adams, Jane Haesuler, Ella Brown, Avril Gardiner
Under 15s: Vitorio Sardinha, Theo Papas, Lincoln Taylor, Anna Bishop, Lucy Gainsford, Isabelle Moore
Under 13s: Connor Guest, Aidan Purvis, Seamus Shepherd, Caitlin Bourke, Sophie Bailey, Erin Murphy
Under 11s: Harry Purvis, Amarni Louis, Willam Penberthy, Charo Brown, Jai Read McInnes, Brigid Murphy
