This year’s tournament has been upgraded from a Level 3 pointscore event to a Level 1 tournament and is now called the Sawtell RSL Seaside AMT Open Tennis Championships.

The Seaside Open is now one of the strongest tournaments in Australia outside ATP and WTA events.

The tournament forms part of the Australian Money Tournament series allocated by Tennis Australia to regions who have a high-performing championship well established over many years.

Tournaments such as this give the best Australian players the funds to kick-start their tennis career and gain valuable points towards their Australian ranking.

Players from all over Australia and New Zealand will make the trip to Sawtell to compete in this year’s tournament, including the 2006 and 2008 winner and this year’s No.4 seed Brendan Moore from Lismore.

Number one seed in the open men’s singles is Dane Propoggia, who is currently ranked 31 in Australia and has a world ranking of 789.

Other players to watch include No.2 seed Matheson Klein from Brisbane, 2007 winner and No.3 seed Chris Letcher from the Gold Coast, who has been ranked as high as 450 in the world, and No.5 seed Glen Knox from Sydney.

Last year’s runner-up Matt Hogan from Canberra is also returning.

The open women’s singles event has the top 12 seeds ranked within the top 100 in Australia.

The No.1 seed is Tyra Calderwood from Sydney, ranked 17 in Australia and with a world ranking of 648.

Number two seed Sophie Letcher from Hope Island is currently ranked 33 in Australia and also made the third round of this year’s Australian Open junior girls’ singles. Sophie is currently ranked 311 in the junior world rankings and 912 in the world rankings.

Qualifying matches for the open men’s singles begin at the Sawtell Tennis Club today at 10am, followed by the main draw matches tomorrow at Sawtell and Westside Tennis Club at 8am.

All draws and times can be viewed online at www.sawtelltennis.org.au

The finals will be played at the Sawtell club on Monday.