McDonald, 17, dominated the women’s competition in 2017-18, barely dropping a set for the year.

St Michael’s captain Chris Ellis said the move for McDonald to the men’s competition was a no-brainer.

“It will be better for her tennis and make us better players as well,” he said.

“She’ll hold her own with the men easily and she will probably win more sets than she loses.

“We’ve pushed for this to happen and it’ll be great to see next season.”

Ellis said it would be the first time a woman would play in the men’s competition for an entire season.

In the past, women have only played sporadic games in the men’s competition. 

McDonald said she was looking forward to the challenge.

“It should be good, it’s going to be tough though,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Central Wimmera Tennis Association president Kate-Lyn Perkin said the decision was up to the club.

“As an association, we would encourage it though, it’s important for her tennis,” she said.

“It is great having Steffi and her sister Jess involved in our competition.

“They are great role models and show our juniors what they can be capable of.

“We want to keep them involved in our association and we want them to be able to play their best tennis.”

Perkin said McDonald was continuing to improve each year.

“The only way to get better in tennis is to play against someone better than you,” she said.

Perkin said the decision was completely up to McDonald about what she wanted to do.

“The association won’t tell anyone they have to play in a certain competition – it’s completely up to her discretion,” she said.

“We love having her involved and want her to stay around.”