ANZ Tennis Hot Shots of the Year nominee Ryder Donald, joins us as a guest reporter to tell us all about his ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Australian Open experience.
Hi, my name is Ryder Donald. I am 8 years old and live at Henley Beach. I play ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Orange Ball at Henley South Tennis Club.
Last year I was lucky enough to be picked as a 2017 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots of the Year nominee.
I won a trip to the Australian Open in Melbourne this January along with lots of other cool prizes like tennis racquets, a Hot Shots net and balls. I was so excited when I found out and could not wait to go.
It was very exciting flying over to Melbourne and being picked up at the Airport and taken to our Hotel. When we checked in they gave me a pack which I got a pair of New Balance Shoes as well as a t-shirt and shorts and an Australian Open back pack full of lots of things.
On the first day we met with the nice people from Tennis Australia and also all the other nominees. I made great new friends with Sam, Cooper and Jack and also the girls. We all walked over to the Tennis and got to look around at the Festival and also Ball Park which had lots of fun things like rock climbing, nerf guns, zip lining and and mini tennis courts. We got to walk around the whole park and watch players on the practice courts and some games in the arenas. It was so big.
That afternoon we went back to the hotel and got picked up in a big bus to take us to the Melbourne Zoo for a Giraffe experience. The zoo was closed and we were the only ones there and got to have dinner while sitting near the Giraffes. This was lots of fun and we got to run around and play chasey with my new friends after dinner.
The next day we walked over to the Tennis again and got to meet Dylan Alcott. He was really cool and liked my Nike Cap. We had photos with him. It was then time to go into the Rod Laver Arena, we were taken underneath where all the players go and we got to see where they get ready and we got to walk along the wall of champions into the arena. It was so awesome on centre court, it was so big. We played tennis on there and I played with Sam. We got to meet Alicia Molik and she had some hits with us too. We then had a presentation where we each got a medal and the winner was announced.
We then got to go back to Ball Park for some fun activities and we were interviewed by Dylan Alcott and played on court with him. He is really good. It was there where they asked my Mum and Dad if I would be able to toss the coin for the Djokovic/Monfils game which we had tickets for to watch. I could not believe it when they told me, I was so happy that I got to go back on court again and meet the players. They were really nice to me and I got to have a photo with them and keep the coin. We then watched that match and Djokovic won.
It was sooooo amazing and I had the best time of my life. I cant wait for Tennis to start up again this weekend.
I would like to thank Tennis SA who have been so nice to me, they organised for me to be in the Messenger and they brought the Men’s and Women’s trophies to my school. I would also like to thank Tennis Australia and the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots program for giving us this opportunity that I will never forget. And thank you to my tennis coach Dave and the Henley South Tennis Club.
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