Local Sports

The East Texas Adult Major Zone tennis tournament, a yearly event since the late 1940s featuring some of the state's top players, is scheduled to begin today at courts across Tyler.

The headquarters for the tournament, which begins at 8 a.m. and will last through Sunday, will once again be Tyler Tennis & Swim Club. Other tournament sites will be Hollytree Country Club, UT Tyler, All Saints Episcopal School and Willow Brook Country Club.

There are 430 players entered in 28 events.

"We have a lot of the top players in the state coming to play," said tournament director Guillaume Gauthier. "Most of the top five players in the state within their respective levels are coming to compete here. It's definitely going to be some good, tough competition in all events."

In Men's Open singles, Cibolo's Tim Shuler returns as the top seed after his No. 4 seed last year. Shuler, who is ranked No. 3 in the USTA rankings for Texas, is followed one spot in the seedings by Spring's Marinos Baghdati, who is rated ninth.

Baghdati is the brother of Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis, who in 2006 made the finals of the Australian Open and the semifinals at Wimbledon. Baghdatis is currently ranked No. 81 in the world.

In Women's Open singles, former Tyler resident Julie Thu (formerly Scott; now of Austin) is the second seed behind Rowlett's Meaghan Ocanas. Thu is ranked fourth in the state, while Ocanas is No. 2.

-- Shane Stark