Leigh Moulden was a keen tennis player as a teenager, but his ranking was never high enough to qualify for an Australian Open wildcard.
When he chanced upon a Transport Accident Commission competition last December, offering the chance to play a set during the Grand Slam later this month, he jumped and entered himself and his best mate of 17 years.
The 29-year-old Doreen resident and insurance broker was one of 300 people picked last week to play on court nine, or what will be known as “the people’s court”.
Between official matches, Moulden and other competition winners will play a condensed set complete with a chair umpire, ball kids, an announcer, racquets and match stats all provided by Tennis Australia.
“We’ll get all the stuff Raffa and the Williams sisters get,” Moulden said. “We’ll lap it up.”
