Melbourne, 3 July 2024 | tennis.com.au

Former world No.4 Jelena Dokic launched the 2024 edition of the Hot Shots Tennis Racquet Roadshow last week at Middle Park Primary School in Melbourne, Victoria.

The program encourages school aged children to pick up a racquet and learn tennis as part of their health and physical education curriculum.

Since 2017, the successful initiative has delivered more than 200,000 racquets across the country.

Dokic, whose journey from a young, aspiring player to Wimbledon sensation and now a respected commentator, visited the local primary school to celebrate the eighth year of the nationwide tour which aims to reach even more children across Australia by delivering new racquets and host on-court activities in each state and territory.

Two-hundred and fifty-five students received brand new racquets at Middle Park.

“I know that tennis racquet changed my life, there’s no doubt about that,” Dokic said.

Middle Park Primary School P.E and Specialist Sports Teacher Jacqui Stephens also backed the opportunities the Hot Shots Tennis program presents.

“It’s so exciting to be able to give kids opportunities like this.

“This will mean a lot for a lot of our students who don’t have access to these resources.”

Hot Shots Tennis Racquet Roadshow 2024 fast facts

• Hot Shots Tennis Racquet Roadshow will deliver thousands of tennis racquets to primary school age children across all Australian states and territories in 2024
• 2024 is the eighth consecutive year of the Hot Shots Tennis Racquet Roadshow
• More than 200,000 racquets have been put in the hands of school children across Australia since 2017
• Hot Shots Tennis is one of Australia’s most popular sports participation programs for the three-to-10-year-old plus age group
• Tennis was the No.1 ​requested sport as part ​of the Australian Sport Commission’s Sporting Schools initiative in 2023
• 700,328 children experienced Hot Shots Tennis nationwide in 2022/2023
• Tennis Hot Shots is popular with both genders – 44% girls and 56% boys participating in the program in the past 12 months
• Tennis Australia’s School Partnership Program encourages kids to pick up a racquet and play tennis as part of their health and physical education curriculum. There are more than 3100 Tennis Australia partner schools in Australia delivering tennis
• Tennis is committed to supporting schools and teachers with developing the technical and tactical skills of students in a fun, developmentally appropriate and inclusive way to be able to play the game
• As a Tennis Australia partner school, schools receive an equipment pack, a comprehensive teaching resource with lesson plans mapped to the Australian Curriculum – Health and Physical Education, as well as professional learning opportunities
• Top 10 player Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic are the faces of the Hot Shots Tennis program in Australia.

For more information about Hot Shots Tennis visit: play.tennis.com.au/hotshots or hotshots.tennis.com.au/.

For more information about Hot Shots Tennis as part of the Sporting Schools program visit https://www.sportaus.gov.au/schools/schools/sports/tennis#products.