YOUNG tennis star Jarrod Joyce is smashing his way through a string of International Tennis Federation tournaments.<\/p>\n
The 17-year-old Damascus College year 11 student won the recent ITF J60 Gold Coast International title for doubles players under 18 with his tennis partner, and friend from Queensland, Marcus Schoeman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so much fun,\u201d he said. \u201cWe snuck through in the final. We were down a set but we fought back and won in the end which was pretty exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an international tournament, and in the final we played a guy from T\u00fcrkiye. You get a lot of Europeans coming down to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an awesome tournament, and it\u2019s always nice weather to play in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce and Schoeman also played together at last week\u2019s Queensland Junior International.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus and I have been playing together for a while now,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cWe just decided to play with each other, and are competing for Australia, and ourselves at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Joyce isn\u2019t just getting on court with his partner, he\u2019s playing singles as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost in the semi-final of the Queensland Junior International singles, six-four in the third set,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Joyce has two more ITF tournaments coming up in Sydney, and has played in Melbourne and Canberra in recent months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the tournament in Melbourne, I won the doubles and lost in the final of the singles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With a dad that\u2019s a tennis coach, Joyce has been playing the sport his whole life, whether in the backyard or on court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a racket in my hand since I was born,\u201d he said. \u201cI train every day pretty much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI train at home with dad, at Buninyong Tennis Centre, and I go down to Melbourne to train at the National Tennis Centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love competing, getting out there, being in pressure situations… I love the game so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce is aiming to get his ranking points up to play at the junior Australian Open 2024, and more Grand Slams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
YOUNG tennis star Jarrod Joyce is smashing his way through a string of International Tennis Federation tournaments. The 17-year-old Damascus College year 11 student won the recent ITF J60 Gold Coast International title for doubles players under 18 with his tennis partner, and friend from Queensland, Marcus Schoeman. \u201cIt was so much fun,\u201d he said. […]<\/p>\n