KUALA LUMPUR: Four national players have been given wildcards for the ITF Futures M15 (US$15,000) men's competition, which begins in Seremban on Monday.
Syed Agil Syed Naguib, Naufal Siddiq Kamaruzzaman, Aiman Hamdan and Imran Daniel Hazli have been awarded main draw slots by the Negeri Sembilan Lawn Tennis Association (NSLTA), which is the organiser of the tournament.
It is the first of three back-to-back M15 competitions in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur (July 25-31) and Kuching (Aug 1-7) will host the next two tournaments after Seremban.
It is likely that more national players will be awarded wildcards for the upcoming rounds.
Tennis Malaysia (TM) secretary Kamaruzzaman Kedah disclosed that the wildcards will help the players prepare for the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group III competition in Vietnam (Aug 10-13).
"Usually, we would send our players abroad for competitions to prepare them for the Davis Cup," said Kamaruzzaman.
"But with Covid-19 restrictions relaxed, we have decided to host these three competitions. This way, we can give more players the opportunity to compete and prepare our squad as the last tournament (Kuching) ends just a few days before Davis Cup.
"The four are among the players that have been earmarked for the Davis Cup squad as well as Koay Hao Sheng and Mitsuki Leong, who have not been given wildcards for this Seremban M15 round.
"We hope they will at least win a match and earn ranking points in the M15s."
Kamaruzzaman is also the president of the Negri Sembilan Lawn Tennis Association.
