Martina Guba leaves for Melbourne , Australia tonight to see action in the Asian 14-Under Tennis Series sponsored by the Australian Open.

The La Carlota-born netter, who will see action from Jan. 10-16, earned the right to play in the international tournament because she is ranked No. 6 in the ATF 14-Under Series. Only the top 8 have slots in the tournament.

Guba, champion of the ATF 14-Under Agra Cup in Manila in last October and finalist in the Bahrain leg, was invited to play by Tennis Australia , which is paying for her airfare and accommodations, along with the ATF.

The tournament, one of the side events of the Aussie Open “Grandslam of the Asia-Pacific”, marks the fourth overseas stint in less than a year for Guba.

Apart from Bahrain , she also saw action in the Asia Oceania leg of the World Junior Tennis Championships in India and the Junior Fed Cup in Kuala Lumpur during the summer last year.

The player's father-coach, Socrates, said Martina is prepared in what could easily be the biggest tournament of career.

“She played 4-5 matches a day against the best men's players in Bacolod, Jong Awatin, Bong Arguelles, Paul Allego and Gerard Bergavera,” Socrates said. “We also work on her stamina and conditioning by doing road runs”. *CPT

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