THE most anticipated week of competition on the calendar for Wangaratta Lawn Tennis Croquet Tennis and Pickleball Club is right around the corner, with the club sending five squads to Tennis Victoria’s Country Week carnival over in Swan Hill.

From Sunday, February 9 through to Friday, February 14, the state will descend on the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for the largest grass court tennis tournament in the world.

WLTCP president Barry Sullivan said Country Week was always a highlight.

“Everyone gets excited at this time of the year to represent the tennis club, I think we’ve got five teams going over this year,” he said.

“I think we’ve got representation in Open, in section two, five, seven, with two teams in the one section.

“It’s a spectacular venue for Country Week - all of the courts are in the one area, they do convert a multi-purpose field into tennis courts, but aside from that they have a lot of proper grass courts, more than just about any area in regional Victoria that I’m aware of.

“I think everyone just sets themselves to be in as good a physical shape as they can be at this time of the year.

“Obviously we’ve had a bit of distraction with our Australia Day tournament when it was all hands on deck, but since then people have started to focus on the week ahead and enjoy what’s going to be a great week.”

The forecast is predicting a hot one for Country Week 2025.

The Bureau of Meteorology lists a top temperature of 33-34 for the first few days, before cranking the heat up as the week wears on.

Regardless of the temperature, WLTCP side will be working hard to give a good account of themselves and their club against some truly talented players from across the state.

“Any year, it depends on the quality of the opposition,” Sullivan said.

“Some are unknown and playing for the first time and they get allocated to a section, but the individual standouts for our club are the guys like Sam and Joe Allen, John Brunner, Matt Allen.

“If the Legionnaires can keep their bodies right, they could have a good result.

“We’ve got Shane Flynn, Joe Allen in that team, and Frank Harris and Kev Callahan might make an appearance.

“They’ve got some potential, but any of the teams can bring home the chocolates if they play well enough.

“We’ve got a few guys missing this year through injury, but aside from that, everyone will give a good account of themselves.”

Tennis Victoria’s Country Week 2025 takes place in Swan Hill from Sunday, February 9 through to Friday, February 14.