SHELDON College student Lara Walker is one step closer to making it to the Australian Open Juniors after winning two junior international tennis tournaments in New Caledonia and boosting her world tennis rank.
The 14-year-old played 10 matches over two weeks against players from Asia, New Zealeand, Pacific Islands and Australia without dropping a set.
She won the New Caledonia International Tennis Federation Junior Cup and Open BNP Paribas Junior de Novelle-Caledonie Cup two weeks ago.
Lara said she felt the ITF win was really special because she was not expecting the great outcome.
“I just tried my best and stayed disciplined with a consistent play,” she said.
This follows two ITF tournaments played in Melbourne three months ago where Lara successful in progressing to the quarter final and semi-final.
Her results after four tournaments has elevated her ranking since the beginning of the year, from having a Junior World Tennis Ranking of 2110 in January to 527 after her performance in four tournaments.
“It has increased my ranking by quite a lot, which will help me play junior grand slams and play at a higher level grade,” Lara said.
The Redland Bay teenager said she had no time to think about the next ITF tournament next week while she continued competing in several other contests, including the Queensland Open Platinum Tournament.
She has won three qualifying matches and is set to play one main match today in quarter finals.
“I’m just taking it one game at a time and not really thinking too far ahead,” she said.
“I know it’s going to be tough in grade 4 where in New Caledonia I was a grade 5 so it’s going to be tougher but if I play well it will go in my favour.
“I love the challenge (in tennis) and love competing.”
She will compete in the ITF tournaments on the Gold Coast, Fiji, New Zealand and New South Wales in the coming months.
Lara trains for about 15 hours per week to practise her techniques in preparation for tournaments with the hope of performing well enough to earn a wild card or a good ranking to compete at the Australian Open Juniors next year.
Jocelyn Garcia
Jocelyn is a journalist at the Redland City Bulletin, covering education issues and school stories. She was a former journalist at Beaudesert Times, reporting about crime, schools and agriculture.
Jocelyn is a journalist at the Redland City Bulletin, covering education issues and school stories. She was a former journalist at Beaudesert Times, reporting about crime, schools and agriculture.
