Through the initiative and the continuous collaboration that exists between the Maltese Tennis Federation and Tennis Europe, along with the International Tennis Federation, Kimberley Cassar, 14, (photo) has been invited by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to take part in the 16 and Under Tours of Germany which the ITF, together with Tennis Europe, will be organising for the second year running this August.

Kimberley’s selection was the result of her excellent performance in the ITF/Tennis Europe 14 and Under Development Championships held in Tallinn, Estonia, last March.

She competed in two back-to-back tournaments with another 31 girls from 18 Eastern European countries and the best eight-placed girls have been selected for the Tours in Germany. Despite having turned 14 in May, Kimberley’s participation in Germany has now been upgraded to the 16 and Under Tours.

The three-week Tours will start with a two-day training camp in Ulm, the site of the first of the tournaments, the LBS Muller Cup. The team will then proceed to the 16 and Under Tennis Austria 2006 in Bergheim and finish at the Mercedes-Benz Jugend Cup in Renningen/Rutesheim.

The President of the Maltese Tennis Federation, Tony Cilia Pisani, has also confirmed the nomination of Kimberley to take part in the 14 and Under European Individual Championships taking place in Ostrava in the Czech Republic during the last week of July. Matthew Asciak and Elaine Genovese will also be participating in the European Championships of their respective age group, being held in Italy later on this month.