SA young guns set for City of Playford Tennis International

A PAIR of Adelaide youngsters are targeting big-name scalps in their own backyard as they continue their assault on the world rankings at the inaugural City of Playford Tennis International.

SA tennis players Brad Mousley and Tahlia van der Eerden prepare for the City of Playford Tennis International. Picture: AAP Image/ Brenton Edwards

A PAIR of Adelaide youngsters are targeting big-name scalps in their own backyard as they continue their assault on the world tennis rankings.

Brad Mousley and Tahlia van der Eerden will battle it out in the qualifiers for the inaugural City of Playford Tennis International at Elizabeth East this month.

Wynn Vale right-hander Mousley had risen from world No.1751 to No.318 since June 2015 on the back of steady progress mainly on the ITF Futures circuit.

He said breaking into the main men’s draw and upsetting some of the top-200-ranked talent at the Playford ATP Challenger was his goal.

“There’s so many players that want to be in Australia at this time of year coming up to the Australian Open, so you’ve got some high quality players coming here,” Mousley, 21, said.

Brad Mousley has jumped 210 places in the world tennis rankings this year. Picture: Robert Prezioso/Getty Images

“Obviously it would be a big confidence boost to play some good tennis out here which can set up your year really.

“If you do well here, it’s going to boost your ranking and if you do well at the Australian Open, it will boost your ranking even more.

“I couldn’t think of a better preparation for the Aussie summer.”

Van der Eerden entered the tournament as the 12th best SA female, having risen to a career-high 544 on the world junior rankings earlier this year.

The 17-year-old was looking forward to testing herself in the ITF Futures women’s event at the new $55 million Playford Tennis Centre, located 10km from her home.

“Adelaide doesn’t really have any big tournaments, so having one that is so close to home is really exciting,” van der Eerden, of Golden Grove, said.

“I’ve played quite a lot of Pro Tours, but I haven’t got too far in them because you’re up against some big players.

“It’s quite intimidating (facing internationals), but this is a big tournament for me so hopefully

I can get into qualifying and see if I can make a few rounds.”

Mousley had an underwhelming four-set loss to unseeded Alexander Crnokrak at the Australian Open wildcard playoffs last week.

But the Golden Grove player, whose singles ranking had leapt 210 places this year, hoped a strong showing at Playford would prepare him for next month’s Melbourne Park qualifiers.

“I want to build my ranking to push up into the Grand Slam qualifiers and play the bigger tournaments,” said Mousley, who reached this year’s Australian Open doubles quarter-finals.

“I’m just below that at the moment (in singles), but my doubles ranking is in the top 100 so hopefully I can match both of them up soon.”

Originally published as SA young guns set for City of Playford Tennis International