SOME of next week’s Mildura International competitors have been getting familiar with north-west Victorian grass courts at Swan Hill this week.
The $20,000-prizemoney Victorian Grasscourt Championships started Monday at the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club and concluded Friday.
It has provided perfect preparation for players headed to the Pro Tour event in Mildura.
Speaking to Sunraysia Daily after his narrow quarter-final defeat to Blake Bayldon, Brisbane-based men’s fifth seed Thomas Braithwaite, 24, said the tournament “was just great”.
Braithwaite described the level of competition on display at the tournament as “just crazy”, a positive indicator for what Mildura spectators can expect.
“For an AMT (Australian Money Tournament) it’s a bit funny how high the standard is,” he said.
“I went down in three sets, my opponent played well.
“He’s a lefty and he’s serving volleys on grass, which is always going to be tough.
“I played a good match though, I didn’t get broken until the third game of the third set.
“I think I got broken twice in the last two matches – I won two of them in three and lost one today in three. I couldn’t really do much more.”
Braithwaite said he and a group of fellow Brisbane-based players will be travelling north-west for the week-long Mildura International.
“I’m not too sure how it’s going to go getting there just yet, it really depends on how we go here,” he said.
“I’ve played in Mildura before, but not since 2019.
“After playing in Mildura that year, I played in Geelong and actually got my first point there, and then that’s when the tournament got cancelled due to COVID.”
