Coral Beach and Tennis Club are preparing to host their biggest tournament for more than two decades as the Bermuda Breeze Tennis Championships returns for a second successive year.

Following on from the success of last year, the tournament, running from April 15 to 21, will be one of two United States Tennis Association National Category II tournaments, to be held at the Paget club, along with the inaugural Bermuda Family Championships in November.

The tournament will be hosting various categories including men’s and women’s singles and doubles in age categories 40, 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 years, while mixed doubles age categories are 40, 50 and 60 years.

Patrick Singleton, the Coral Beach Club sports director, has spoken about the event’s importance in helping put Bermuda back on the map as a sporting destination.

“We will have more than 100 players coming to compete and this will be the biggest tournament we’ve hosted in about 20 years,” Singleton said.

“The hotel is completely sold out for the entire week and we have had to find other residents to house people coming over.

“There will be players from across the US, Canada, Great Britain and Italy so we have a wide spread of players and we’re really excited about hosting the event once again.

“Working closely with the Bermuda Tourism Authority, we are trying to promote Bermuda as a sporting destination in as many ways as possible.

“This is the second year of running this event and because it is a good chance to win some good ranking points.

“It is all part of the bigger picture of promoting the island, whether that be to play tennis, golf, come and scuba dive while you’re here, we’re trying to help build a destination experience.

“Last year we had several Bermudian players win their category and become US National tennis champions, so we are hoping for a repeat of that again.”

The event is open to spectators free of charge. For further information visit www.ustabermudatennis.com