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A spring tradition in Southern California since 2005, the International Tennis Federation's Grade 1 tournament will begin Monday in San Diego, with the Barnes Tennis Center serving as host for the second consecutive year.

Known as the International Spring Championships during the 15 years it was held at the USTA's Player Development Center West in Carson, California, the tournament is part of an important fortnight for those players with junior slam aspirations.

Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego is the Host Site
© Zoo Tennis

Due to the pandemic, neither the Grade 1 nor the Easter Bowl ITF JB1 was held in 2020, but last year both events were played at Barnes, home of August's USTA Girls 18s and 16s National Championships.

This year, the Easter Bowl is returning to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, its home since 2014, but San Diego sought to host the Grade 1 on a more permanent basis.

"We decided we wanted to keep the tournament in San Diego, since we hosted it last year, and we wanted to keep it in Southern California, since it's been here for many years," said tournament director Ryan Redondo, the Chief Executive Officer of Youth Tennis San Diego, the non-profit organization that owns Barnes. "We wanted to make sure it didn't go anywhere else, and with the USTA's permission, we were able to keep it here."