TENNIS in DEPTH.

Rising tennis teen Bernard Tomic will finetune for the Australian Open by playing at the World Tennis Challenge.

Tomic, 17, has agreed to play in the novel World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide next January.

The Adelaide tournament, in which a retired star partners a current player in a teams format, ends only four days before the Australian Open starts in Melbourne.

Tomic will partner Wimbledon champ Pat Cash, who at age 44 is 27 years his senior.

The Tomic–Cash combination will represent Australasia in the Adelaide event, opposed to three teams – the Americas, Europe and the Internationals.

The Americas team features 50-year-old John McEnroe and Robbie Ginepri while French 46-year-old Henri Leconte will play for Europe with an as yet un-named teammate.

World No.14 Radek Stepanek will head the Internationals with a yet to be announced retired player.

Tomic this year became the youngest player in the Open era to win a main draw match at the Australian Open.

Currently ranked 286 in the world, Tomic expects to be given a wildcard into next year’s Australian Open.

“I can’t wait to play in Adelaide … playing alongside some of the greats will be a great learning curve,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“WTC is a fantastic concept and I think it will be great to play with Pat alongside some of the legends of the game.

“I think Adelaide is ideal preparation for the Australian Open.”

The WTC, first held earlier this year, will be held at Adelaide’s Memorial Drive from January 12 to 14.

The format pits the two current players against each other, followed by the past players. The teams then join for a doubles match.

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• Young guns & old farts to play in Adelaide!
• Young Tomic debuts in style for Australia.
• Everything is ‘cool’ between Tomic and Hewitt.

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