Children from different tennis schools across Malta joined the fun at the Marsa Sports Club for the annual Tennis 10s festival held by the Malta Tennis Federation with the support of GasanMamo Insurance. Tennis 10s is a discipline which provides a sound developmental structure for players aged 10 and under, through three-colour-coded stages – Red, Orange and Green. “Smaller, Slower, Easier” is the main slogan for Tennis 10s and its main purpose is to put into place a three-stage version of tennis designed specifically for younger children.

The tournament organised in accordance with the new tennis formats adopted by the International Tennis Federation saw kids in the Orange Festival playing with smaller sized rackets, softer balls and smaller courts and in the Green Festival with softer balls. The day ended with an extraordinary final as Alex de Gabriele edged Ben Azzopardi in a thrilling tie break in front of a crowd of enthusiasts at the Green Festival. In the Orange Festival final, Kurt Cassar took the honours after defeating Alexander Spiteri (pictured below).

“The Tennis 10s Festival has once again been a resounding success,” said Claire Arrigo, Coordinator of the Tennis 10s programme. “To see such level of enthusiasm and commitment from everyone involved, the coaches, the parents and mostly the kids themselves is phenomenal. Through GasanMamo’s repeated support we are therefore able to continue enjoying the eagerness of children to play the game and help junior tennis players improve whilst enjoying practising the sport.”

“We are very pleased that the festival has now become a reoccurring event in the tennis scene in Malta,” said Mark Mamo, Marketing General Manager at GasanMamo. “The program has over past years helped several youngsters improve their tennis at the same time having fun and keeping fit. The children taking part are now motivated to keep playing and progress gradually, and we hope this will lead to a better set of players who can eventually join the senior national team.”