By Les Muir

THE Junior Davis Cup team-mate of Wagga star Joey Swaylsand will headline the Australian Schools Tennis Challenge in Wagga next week.

Luke Saville teamed with Swaysland to capture the Junior Davis Cup last month and is the frontline player for Adelaide's Prince Alfred College.

With Swaysland studying at Kings School in Sydney, and not playing at the Australian Schools Tennis Challenge, Saville is expected to dominate the tournament.

Ranked number one in the world in the under 15 years age group, the gifted tennis prodigy has guaranteed Prince Alfred College is favourite to claim the coveted national title in the boys division.

Prince Alfred College will be among a glittering list of private and government schools from Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria and NSW playing at the titles at Jim Elphick Tennis Centre in Wagga.

Carrying the flag for the Riverina in the four-day tournament, starting on Sunday, will be Kooringal High and Mater Dei Catholic College of Wagga and Wade High from Griffith.

Wagga-based national tennis secretary of School Sport Australia John Ferguson said yesterday the Riverina teams would face a massive challenge.

Ferguson said many of the visiting teams had full-time tennis programs and high-performance coaches.

"There are some exceptional kids coming to the event," Ferguson said.

"Basically the schools are the best in each state."

Ferguson said St John's College of Dubbo and Oak Hill College from Sydney had qualified at state level to play in the tournament, while the Riverina teams were seeded into the event.

"It's always difficult to say how our kids will go, but they invariably perform well," he said.

Prince Alfred College tennis manager Chris Nicholls said the team from the school would be potent and powerful.

Speaking from Adelaide yesterday, Nicholls said the inclusion of Saville gave the team a massive head start.

"He (Saville) probably won't lose a match," Nicholls said.

Nicholls, however, said Saville will have great support from the other players in the team � Li Tu, Josh Gregg, John Hall and Corey De Candia.

"Li Tu is a young lad and an absolute gun," Nicholls said.

"He's only 13 and in Year 8, but he's got an unbelievable backhand and forehand and all the shots.

"He's the number one under 13 player in Australia."

The Australian Schools Tennis Challenge has twice previously been played in Wagga.