PRESIDENT of Tennis Jamaica, John Azar says he’s confident John Chin will be the first Jamaican to advance to the second round of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) M15000 World Tennis Tour tournament at Eric Bell Tennis Centre in Kingston today.

The 20-year-old, who is one of the country’s top players, will do battle with Brazil’s Lucca Pinto at 10:00 am in the first match of the men’s single main draw.

Pinto qualified for the round of 32 after comfortably getting by Jamaica’s Jonathan March 6-0, 6-0 on Sunday, then sealed his spot on Monday with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Australia’s Timothy Gray.

Although expecting a tough match, Azar believes Chin can overcome the challenge of the Brazilian.

“It is great having John back and competing on local soil as he has not played a competitive match here in Jamaica for a while. He has just completed his college season, where he had some good results playing for his school, so I suspect he is ready and raring to go,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“I had a chat with him on the weekend and again yesterday where I observed his practice session, and he certainly looks to be both fit and sharp. Once he stays injury-free he is definitely a big part of our Davis Cup plans next month, and I am certain the technical team is looking forward to observing him in action as well. While everyone in the main draw is tough I also had the opportunity to watch his opponent practise, and once John goes out there and executes as we know he can I definitely like his chances in that matchup.”

Azar also believes Chin will be motivated by the opportunity to move up in the international rankings.

“One of the main advantages of our hosting events like this here in Jamaica is the opportunity for young players like John to get exposure at this level in main draw competition on the ITF World Tennis Tour, and the chance for him to get invaluable points to improve his world ranking,” said Azar.

After the conclusion of his singles match Chin will partner with Bermuda’s Richard Mallory for their first-round doubles match during which they will take on Great Britain’s Fabio Nestola and Australia’s Jera Staley.

No Jamaican was in action on Monday’s second day of play as Pinto and six other players booked their spot for the main draw in qualifying matches held at Eric Bell Tennis Centre and Liguanea Club.

Ghana’s Abraham Asaba, Dominican Republic’s Enmanuel Munoz, Great Britain’s Max Benaim, and Americans Teodor Cariov and Joseph Phillips all made it out of qualifying to advance to the main draw.

Jamaica’s and the tournament’s top-seeded player Blaise Bicknell, along with compatriot Daniel Azar, will begin action on Wednesday.

Bicknell will play America’s Miles Jones while Azar takes on Jody Maginley of Antigua and Barbuda. Azar is also expected to play his first-round doubles match on Wednesday with Japan’s Shu Matsuoka, against Pinto and Munoz.