By BRAD PERRY

THE Riverland will get a glimpse of some of Australia’s top ranked juniors and several experienced players from around the world at this year’s Berri-view Men’s International Futures tennis tournament.

With qualifiers kicking off on Sunday, the main draw beginning on Tuesday and finals the following Sunday, Berri-view Tennis Club president Garry Pinnington said the tournament is a great opportunity for locals to see tennis at its best.

While there will not be a local representative competing in the tournament due to Luke Saville playing in Spain, Pinnington said there will be a number of players returning from overseas and interstate who have played in previous years.

“There will be plenty of well known faces and quite a few players who have been to the event,” he said.

Nearly 100 players from all over the world, including from Australia, India, Spain, Italy, USA, Slovakia, Israel, United Kingdom, New Zealand, India, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Hungary and Serbia will be competing.

However, all eyes will be on Australian ranked, eighth seed Matthew Ebden and 14th seed Brydan Klein.

South African born Ebden, who grew up in Western Australia, has had many career highlights, including winning a qualifying round at the Australian Open in 2007 and 2009.

Ebden has paired up with Klein for several doubles titles and boasts a current world ranking of 219.

On the other hand, Western Australia’s Klein cracked the top 200 in the world rankings last year, enjoying a career best season in singles in 2009.

Other players to watch during the tournament include Australian players Greg Jones and Samuel Groth, who are ranked 246 and 279 in the world respectively.

Pinnington said the club is excited by the prospect of seeing the Aussie stars face off.

“Brydan has missed out on playing for six months last year (due to suspension for abuse) and is keen to get his ranking back up to where it should be,” he said.

“Matt Ebden will want to challenge that.”

With twighlight matches to feature at this year’s tournament, Pinnington is expecting the event to generate plenty of dollars for the region.

“It’s huge and a lot of money comes into the area,” he said.

“We expect a good crowd again.”

Internationally, New Zealand pair Daniel King-Turner (ranked 252 in the world) and Jose Statham (ranked 296) are sure to be competitive.