BERMUDA'S tennis players may have the chance to face the likes of Andy Murray or Lleyton Hewitt after it was announced this week that tennis has been added to the Commonwealth Games. And the news was warmly welcomed by Bermuda's tennis officials."That is fantastic," said David Lambert, former head of the BLTA and chairman of the Elbow Beach Celebrity Classic which raises money to send young players away to tournaments. "Now we have another thing which our players can aim for," added Lambert.

Archery was also added to the list of disciplines for the 2010 Games in India following a meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation in Kuala Lumpur this week.

Bermuda has sent tennis players to the Olympics and the Pan American Games but the Commonwealth Games have never included the sport — until now.

Top men's player Andy Bray, who represented Bermuda at the last Island Games, said: "That is great news — it is fantastic especially for the kids who are playing in school. It is great for Bermuda."

Lambert said: "There is nothing higher in sports than representing your country. By including tennis in the Commonwealth Games it gives another carrot to our players so they can get their heads down and train. Qualifying for the Games will be something else to shoot for. This all falls into line with the development of our young players. By 2010 we should have a number of players overseas in college on tennis scholarships. In three years time we will have a good group of players to choose from."

While this will be the first time tennis has been included in the Commonwealth Games, Bermuda has sent players to the Olympics and Pan Am Games.

Stephen Alger played in the 1988 Olympics and Donald Evans and Ricky Mallory played in the 1987 Pan Am Games in Indianapolis.

At the 1991 Pan Am Games in Cuba, Bermuda was represented by Alger, Michael Way and his brother, the late Billy Way.

John Hoskins, the president of the Bermuda Olympic Association and who was in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week for the CGF meeting, said yesterday after arriving back in Bermuda: "India has good tennis players and they wanted to include it for the 2010 Games. The standard will be at a lower level (than the Olympics). There is some statistic which shows that very few of the top 200 players in the world would be eligible for the Games. I think it is good that they included it and let's hope we have people here who will be able to compete."

Brent Smith who is the coach of Bermuda's Under 14 team as well as the school co-ordinator for tennis, said: "It will be excellent because our kids need the exposure — we don't get much exposure because we are so far away from anyone else. In the US the players can travel from city to city and in the Caribbean they can just island hop throughout the summer."

Smith said that Bermuda have "several up and coming kids that can look to compete in the Games". He said: "We have people like Gavin Manders, Romar Douglas, Devon Whitter and Ashley Brooks. It will be excellent for them. Right now we have Fed and Davis Cup, Junior Fed and Davis Cup and Under 14. It will be great to add the Commonwealth Games."

And Smith, like Lambert, said he expects more young players to win tennis scholarships to colleges in the US.

"There are lots of scholarships available — especially for girls. I have had schools call me looking for players."

Lambert said the exposure for players in the Commonwealth Games will be an added bonus.

"We need more and more exposure. In fact that is what we need more than anything else. One of the best things about the Bank of Bermuda Foundation ITF (junior) tournament we have every summer is that it allows our kids to play players from abroad. It gives them a chance to see what level other players are at. You may be the best in Bermuda but when you go overseas and step on the international stage there are many people better than you."

Lambert said the players who have taken part of the Fed and Davis Cup matches see what is out there and adjust their training.

"They are now adjusting their style of training — they are watching diet. Every time they go on the court they are practising a shot — not just going out and hitting at random. The whole concept of training is changing — there is more energy and commitment.

"By having tennis now included in the Commonwealth Games just gives our players another reason to focus and train."

While tennis and archery were included for the 2010 Games in India, billiards and snooker were turned down despite India pushing for them to be included.

Core sports such as athletics and swimming are constants. The original 15 disciplines are athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby sevens, shooting, squash, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

The Indian Olympic Association was keen to also add cricket for the Games. However, with the Indian Cricket Board failing to decide on the format — it was being mulled to have Twenty20 games instead of 50-overs matches — and also failing to meet the deadline to make a representation, cricket lost out. Tennis was included in the Olympics in 1988 but the move has always been contentious because of the sport's rampant professionalism.

But its presence at the Olympics has led to the sport's explosion in eastern Europe and, increasingly, China.

The timing of the 2010 Games means the tennis event will clash with the rich indoor European events.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president, Michael Fennell said this week that progress on the New Delhi Commonwealth Games was also discussed at the meeting.

"The New Delhi Commonwealth Games organising committee have presented their report," he said.

"The reports concentrated on a few key issues like the development of the venues ... some of the venues are currently being rehabilitated and modernised, other venues have to start from scratch and the report also focused on the building of the Games Village.

"We also expressed our concern on the development of the New Delhi city. We look very carefully on the city's plan, especially to improve the supply of electricity and water as well as the road and development of the airport.

"I am satisfied the plan will be in place before the Games in 2010," said Fennell.

This will be the first time India is hosting the Commonwealth Games and will be the second Asian country to host the Games after Malaysia in 1998. The proposed dates for the Games are October 3-14, 2010.

Fennell also said that the host city for the 2014 Games would be picked at the CGF General Assembly a year from now in Colombo.