The island’s top youngsters will take to the courts for the Bermuda Tennis Open Next Gen tournament at the Fairmont Southampton this weekend.

At total of 58 players have entered the inaugural competition, with the preliminary rounds to be held tomorrow and knockout stages on Sunday.

The Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association-sanctioned event features under-10, under-12 and under-14 age divisions in boys’ and girls’ singles, with several No 1 rankings to be decided at the end-of-year tournament.

Jovan Jordan-Whitter, the tournament director, said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the number of entrants and was looking forward to some competitive matches.

“We have some of the top juniors in each age division being represented,” said Jordan-Whitter, who competed for Bermuda at the Davis Cup Group III Americas campaign in Uruguay in June.

“We knew a lot of our kids would be travelling overseas to see family and friends, so we’re pleasantly surprised to have those numbers. It’s also an opportunity for some of the newer kids to get out and compete against some of the more experienced ones. We’re just trying to get these kids playing against each other more often.”

One of the top rivalries will be in the under-12 boys’ category between No 1 Antonio Warner and Macai Whitter — the cousin of Jordan-Whitter.

“We’ve got a couple of No 1 rankings on the line, including Antonio Warner against Macai Whitter,” he said. “Whoever finishes better will end the year as the boys’ 12 and under No 1.

“Macai came to me in December and I can’t take any credit for his development. He’s playing some really good tennis.”

Matches start on both days at 9am.