Harper Sercombe
Hume tennis centre in Craigieburn has been announced as the home of wheelchair tennis in Australia until at least 2026.
Tennis Australia together with Hume council announced on Thursday that the centre will continue to host the Victorian and Melbourne wheelchair tennis opens.
The Craigieburn courts have already been graced by some of the stars of wheelchair tennis including seven-time Australian Open champion Dylan Alcott.
Champions like Alcott have paved the way for the next crop of Aussie wheelchair tennis stars, two of which call these courts home.
Jin Woodman, from Sunbury, was front and centre at Thursday’s announcement and has been described as the best wheelchair-quad player of his age in the world.
Currently poised as the 12th ranked junior world-wide and being only 14, Jin is ready to take the tennis world by storm.
“I got introduced to tennis when I was three years old. I didn’t know about any sport, I was at Federation Square, I saw some tennis there so I thought I’d have a crack at it,” he said.
Jin has drawn inspiration from Dylan Alcott and his rival Alfie Hewitt. Being able to meet players like Alcott was a thrill Jin said.
“I would meet him at ‘kids on court’ days at the Australian Open, we would flip a coin and then could watch. He would always come and give us handshakes after,” he said.
Jin is hopeful that one day he will be where his heroes once were.
“I want to be in an Australian Open and I’m hoping to be at the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane,” he said.
The other local talent from the Hume Tennis centre is Roxburgh Park player Saalim Nasar who is the 126th ranked player in the world at only the age of 19.
Both Saalim and Jin will once again take centre court when the opens return to Craigieburn in January.
