Three generations of the same family are taking to the grass courts at Tennis Victoria's mammoth Country Week tournament in Yarrawonga.
Set across 100 lawn courts, Tennis Victoria chief executive Adam Crameri said the tournament would be the "largest grass court tennis event in the world".
"We spoke to Wimbledon officials recently and they agree there's no other event of it's kind," he said.
It's a precious family tradition for defending champions in the Langstaff family.
The troupe has travelled over four and a half hours from Leongatha in Gippsland to Yarrawonga, on the Murray River about 260 kilometres north-east of Melbourne.
Tournament veteran Neil Langstaff has attended every Country Week Tournament since 1997. This year, it is his 13-year-old grandson's first time at the games, after being called up to the team at the last minute.
"It's a great excuse to get away from work for a week. It's just good to get away," Mr Langstaff said.
"Meet people, play tennis."
He said that playing on natural lawn courts was also a little kinder to the body.
Overcoming challenges
The event was scheduled to play out in Shepparton, but severe flooding over spring put a halt to plans.
Mr Crameri said temporary courts in Mooroopna could not get up in time.
Shepparton will instead host the much smaller 200-player Victorian Grass Court Championships, also underway this week.
Mr Crameri said the relocation to Yarrawonga meant a "huge amount of work and it's a credit to everyone in how we have collaborated together to ensure it did go ahead".
The scale of the event has meant the competition needed temporary courts, and has taken over nearby football fields and cricket ovals.
With more than 1,300 players registered to attend the economic benefits to the area are clear.
"You get the tourism, you get the money into town to help support these communities that have gone through floods and and things like that," Mr Langstaff said.
The week-long event will inject an estimated $2 million into the community through tourism.
While not technically an international event, every state and territory is represented in the competition as well as New Zealand.
But its regional roots remain, with Mr Cremeri saying that it was "particularly important that we do continue to drive the event into regional communities."
Country Week runs from Sunday, February 12 to Friday, February 17 at the Yarrawonga Lawn Tennis Club, JC Lowe Oval and Victoria Park, Yarrawonga.
