Warrnambool Lawn Tennis Club is thrilled to have a group from the United States competing in its Warrnambool Tennis Carnival which started on Tuesday.
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The Ohio Northern University women's tennis team - nine players and two coaches - is touring Australia for the first time.
The team, a National Collegiate Athletics Association division three member, had never played on grass courts before.
Head coach Scott Wills said the seaside city was an ideal stop for his group which plays in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
"We wanted to complement a tennis experience with a cultural experience in Australia," he said.
"So having the tennis festival here was a great opportunity to take in some tennis and play on grass for the first time for all of us.
"Obviously, the sun is out here - we have colder weather and our nickname is the Polar Bears.
"We wouldn't be in shorts (right now) if we were in north-west Ohio at Ohio Northern.
"It's an honour for us to be here."
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The team of talented players attended the ATP Cup in Sydney earlier this week.
It arrived in Melbourne on Monday and took in the Great Ocean Road on its way to Warrnambool.
The Polar Bears will stay until the end of the tennis carnival which wraps up on Thursday before flying back to the US on the weekend.
Then they'll continue preparing for their season which starts in about a month.
Wills said he was loving Australia.
"It's awesome, it's an experience of a lifetime for the team," he said.
Jeorgia Templin, 19, agrees with her coach.
"I love Australia, it's so beautiful here and everybody is friendly," she said.
The promising athlete said she was enjoying her first day in Warrnambool.
"It's extra friendly here and I love the grass tennis courts, we've never played on grass before so it's a different experience," she said.
Templin said they play on hard courts or sometimes clay in the US.
She said it was a challenge for her group to adjust to the different surface.
"The ball definitely doesn't bounce as high which kind of throws off our rhythm a little bit with bouncing the ball for the serve and all that," she said.
The Polar Bears arrival has also presented south-west players with the unique opportunity to face a high-standard of international competition.
There are 17 teams in the teams-of-four tournament this week with six teams from Warrnambool and five from Ocean Grove.
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