DAMION Johnson, along with several of Jamaica’s leading players, will compete in the third staging of the General Accident Open Tennis Championships that begins today at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston, starting at 9:00 am.

The week-long championships, which end on April 10 at the Liguanea Club, has over $500,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded to winners in each of the categories.

Players in the men’s and women’s open singles will be hunting prize money with $150,000 going to the winner of the men’s singles, and $50,000 for the winner of the women’s singles. The men’s open has attracted 64 players, while the women’s, open has 16 players.

The runner-up in the men’s will collect $75,000 and in the women’s $25,000, while the two losing semi-finalists will receive $32,500 each and the women’s losing semi-finalists $12,500 each. Players reaching the quarter-finals, third and second rounds will also received cash awards.

Johnson, who is presently ranked number two in Jamaica, is the top seed in the men’s open singles, while Ffion Fletcher is the top seed in the women’s open singles.

This is the first professional tournament for the season, and will include five other categories — women’ open, men’s professional 35, men’s Class 2, team event (for Oaklands, Police Officers, Jamaica Public Service, Montego Bay, Jamaica Pegasus and Ocho Rios), Liguanea Club members doubles (four players per team) and the top 16 Junior doubles (eight teams).

Meanwhile, the men’s and women’s first round will be played today and tomorrow morning, beginning each day at 9:00.

The other seeded players in the men’s open singles are Dwayne Pagon at two, Marcus Malcolm, three, McKoy Malcolm, four, Jeremey Miller, five, David Goldsmith, six, Yussef Mikogo, seven, and Blaise Bicknell at eight.

Shereka Knight is the second seed in the Women’s Open singles, followed by Michayla Stephens at three and Selena Blythe is at four.

Meanwhile, at the launch held on Wednesday, Nadia Mitchell, business development officer at General Accident Insurance Company Limited, said her company and tennis share common values, and it is against this background that they have renewed their commitment to the sport.

“Our vision of what this tournament can ach- class players and tennis enthusiasts every year that will bolster the personal development of youth players, and create the opportunity for individuals to engage in a diverse, community-centered environment,” Mitchell said.

Meanwhile, tournament director Llockett McGregor said the week-long tournament will be an exciting one in which the players will get the opportunity to execute their skills that will help to prepare them for future local and international tournaments.

“Our local players are doing very well and we hope that this tournament will help to sharpen their skills for future tournaments. We anticipate a good performance from the players as usual,” McGregor said.