Berri, 28 February 2011 | tennis.com.au

Australian rising stars James Duckworth (Gordon, NSW) and Michael Look (Scarborough, Qld) will test themselves against established international players at the Berri International, to be held at the Berri View Lawn Tennis Club in South Australia from Monday 28 February.

Having both enjoyed success at a junior level, the duo will be among a host of Australians who are set to compete for $15,000 in prize money in regional South Australia.

Junior French Open semifinalist Duckworth will be joined in Berri by emerging players including Look, Matthew Barton (Collaroy, NSW) and Jarryd Maher (Warrandyte, Vic), who reached the semifinals of an ITF Futures tournament in Latvia last year.

Joining the Australians will be international players from Great Britain, Canada, India and Japan.

Tournament Director Mark Handley said the tournament was an opportunity for national talent to gain valuable match experience against international players as they climb the world’s rankings.

“To have players come from abroad to Berri and play alongside our national talent is fantastic for the tournament and the Australian Pro Tour,” Handley said.

Handley also praised the Berri Barmera Council and the Berri View Lawn Tennis Club for their ongoing support and encouraged the community to support the future of Australian tennis at the event.

“Following last year’s success, we hope residents in Berri can once again head down to watch our country’s future tennis stars take their next step onto the global tennis stage at this free community event.”

The men’s draw will also feature former Davis Cup representative Vishnu Vardhan (IND), Hiroki Moriya (JPN) and Canada’s No.5 ranked player Vasek Pospisil, while fellow Canadian Erik Chvojka (CAN) will also be in contention after enjoying success on the Australian Pro Tour in 2010.

Former winners of the Berri International include current Davis Cup squad member Marinko Matosevic (Dandenong, Vic) and the talented John Millman (Carina, Qld).