TEAMWORK—Ellis Ferreira, LEFT, returns a shot while Phillip Bester awaits at the net in their doubles match against Levar Harper-Griffith and Sebestian Rieschick at the Tangipahoa Men's $15,000 Pro Tennis Classic Tuesday. Ferreira and Bester lost to Harper-Griffith and Rieschick, 6-2, 2-6, 10-6. By Mike Kiral

Ellis Ferreira could have watched from the stands as his pupil, Phillip Bester, competed in the Tangipahoa Men's $15,000 Pro Tennis Classic at the Southeastern tennis courts this week.

But the two-time Grand Slam winner from South Africa figured the best way to coach Bester would be to play alongside him, especially after receiving a wild card into the 16-man doubles draw from tournament promoter Abrie du Plooy.

"A, I thought it would be fun and, B, the best way to coach him was to actually be on the court with him and pass on a few things," Ferreira. "A big part of coaching at this level is helping them understand what to do when they are actually in the trenches, so to speak.

“When the bullets are flying over your head, how you deal with them. So actually playing with him probably helps him a lot."

Ferreira and du Plooy grew up playing junior tennis together in South Africa. Ferreira would go on to win the 2000 Australian Open doubles title with Rick Leach and the 2001 Australian Open mixed doubles with Corina Morariu.

Ferreira said he can share that experience of playing with Grand Slam tennis with Bester, a Canadian junior who was ranked No. 823 in the world heading into the Tangipahoa tournament.

"Once I'm out there with him I can ask him some questions in regards to his strategy and that sort of stuff," Ferreira said. "So much of this game is obviously emotional. Having gone through it myself, I know what he is feeling so you try to communicate that. If you're feeling this way, this is how you handle it."

Ferreira and Bester opened the draw Tuesday afternoon against Levar Harper-Griffith of the United States and Germany's Sebastian Rieschick, the 435th-ranked singles player in the world.

It was Ferreira's first competitive match since playing in Memphis in 2003.

"We'll see," Ferreira said of what it was like getting back on the court prior to the match. "I'm sure it will be fun."

Harper-Griffith and Rieschick ended up having the most fun, however, taking a 6-2, 2-6, 10-6 win to move on to the second round. There they will play Trent Aaron and Christoph Palmanshofer, who upset top-seeded Luis-Manuel Flores and Brad Pomeroy, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 14-12, Tuesday.

In other doubles matches, third-seeded Uladzimir and Andrey Kumantsov swept Devin Britton and Adam El Mihdawy, 6-4, 6-3. Sheeva Parbhu and Brett Ross also won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, over Garret Brasseaux and John Woodard.

The fourth seeds, Travis Helgeson and Treat Conrad Huey, advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win over George Coupland and D Sanchez Martinez. Brett Joelson and Bryan Wooten moved on when Joe Bates and Adam Fass retired trailing 6-0, 1-0.

Jean-Yves Aubone and Vahid Mirzadeh took a 6-1, 6-1 win over Ricky Flach and Tommy Garrison. And G.D. Jones and Ryan Rowe swept Chad Rhoden and Daniel Shidler, 6-1, 6-2. Rhoden and Shidler were alternates replacing the second seeds, Gregory Ouellette and Phillip Simmonds.

In singles action, Palmanshofer took a 6-4, 6-2 win over Brasseaux. Palmanshofer will play top-seeded Nicholas Monroe in the second round. Third-seeded Artem Sitak of Russia handed Ouellette a 6-0, 6-2 defeat and will play Ross, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Jones. Rieschick, the fifth-seed, advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Parbhu and will play Rowe, a 6-1, 7-6 (1) winner over Brad Pomeroy.

The Classic continues through Sunday at the SLU tennis courts, with play beginning at 10 a.m. each morning. Wednesday's action will include the first matches for the top seeds in the singles draw.