AJ Tennis serves off at Liguanea

Darian King from Barbados and Carlista Mohammed of Trinidad and Tobago are the top male and female seeds respectively, entering today's opening day of the five-day Hi-Pro Ace Supercentre Tennis Open, at the Liguanea Club, New Kingston.

The tournament is expected to be very exciting with the winner of the men's open taking home $500,000 while the women's champion will pocket $100,000.

Former Davis Cup star, Ryan Russell and Jermaine 'Giant' Smith along with the likes of current Davis Cup national representatives Damian Johnson, Dwayne Pagon, Brandon Burke, Malcolm McKoy and Andre Burrell are among Jamaica's top male participants who are down to compete in the championships.

Overseas players

Bahamian Davis Cup player Devin Mullings and Barbadian Haydn Lewis, are among the overseas players, who are also expected to be in the draw which is scheduled for this morning. Action is set to start at 4 p.m.

Jamaica's overseas-based player, Simone Vranova-Brown, will lead the local charge in the female section against Mohammed.

Aubyn Hill, president of Tennis Jamaica, said recently that his organisation is thrilled to be staging this "grand tennis event" in association with Hi-Pro Ace Supercentre.

"This event is in keeping with our strategic plan to present high-quality tennis events to raise the standard of the game here and to pique the interest of others. With more than 64 entries expected on the men's side and 16 entries for the women's draw, this is a clear sign that tennis is back," Hill added.