The country’s top university tennis players are getting ready to compete for Great Britain at the Master U BNP Paribas Invitational this week in Roeun, France.
The squad, which is managed by British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) and supported by the Tennis Foundation, travelled out today to compete in the four-day clay court tournament which begins tomorrow.
The team event is an exciting mixture of Davis and Fed Cups and is based on singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches with each team playing three matches before the final positions table is decided.
The event, which is managed by the French University Sport Federation and the French Tennis Federation, in partnership with BNP Paribas, is in its sixth consecutive year and will feature university teams from eight countries.
Last year saw top GB players Claire Ricketts, Steph Cornish and Kyle Brassington finish third at the event before going on to be selected for the World University Games in the summer.
Team Manager Louise Assioun said: “This is a great opportunity for the players to play in a very competitive and high standard of tournament. We are delighted to have GB BUCS representation, and I am sure the players and team will do GB proud.”
The Tennis Foundation’s Universities Manager Alistair Higham added: “This event is fast becoming a regular fixture in the international calendar for players who train in our university performance programmes. It is a further sign of the increased ambition and opportunities that are now available for players at universites."
The team includes Kyle Brassington (Leeds Met), Matt James (UWIC), Marshall Tutu (Bath), Alex Walker (Bath), Amanda Elliott (Loughborough) and Lucy Scott (Durham).