Three young tennis players have had a taste of the limelight on centre court at the Brisbane International Tennis Open at Tennyson this week.
Kai Zbirka from Capalaba, along with James Bristol from Victoria Point felt the heat when they worked as ballkids.
For their efforts, they got to meet some of the country's tennis superstars such as Sam Stosur, who welcomed them on court.
The other was pint-sized Redland Bay Tennis Club junior player Lara Walker, who was a hit on court when she held at exhibition game with three others young players from Brisbane.
Walker represented Queensland in the 12 and under National Primary Schools Bruce Cup Tennis Championships in Darwin in August.
The Calvary Christian College Year 5 student, represented the South Coast Region at the Queensland trials in Toowoomba in May last year and was selected from 48 girls from 12 state regions.
She finished third overall to make the Queensland team of seven and was ranked as the No1 10-year-old in Australia.
She represented the state in the 10 and under team at the National Championships at Melbourne in 2013 and 2014.
She has trained alongside the Women’s Australian and German Federation Cup teams at the Queensland Tennis Centre as part of a Tennis Australia initiative.
She is also a regular fixture at the Brisbane International where, along with other top juniors in the state, she holds demonstrations on Centre Court in between matches.
Mum Debbie said for the past four years, Lara had participated in Tennis Australia Junior Optus Tournaments at the 10 and under level and 12 and under level, both contributing to her high rankings.
Coach Tim Low from the Redland Bay Tennis Club, where Lara has trained since the age of 5, said she was a tennis star in the making.
