16 January 2011 | Tennis Victoria

Hene Demiri’s ambition is to one day be the greatest women’s tennis player in the world.

Her determination and work ethic to achieve this has resulted in her being awarded the Prelli Racquets Talent Development Award for January.

“She wakes up every morning at 6:00 am to play tennis. She loves playing tennis,” said Danny Demiri, Hene’s father.

Danny describes his daughter as a very aggressive player who has powerful ground strokes and a very strong backhand.

Having only taken up tennis four years ago, Hene is currently ranked an impressive No.4 in Victoria for her birth year and an overall No.379 in Australia, a climb of almost 400 places in the past 12 months.

Hene plays tournaments as often as she can and plays Junior Pennant for North Suburban Junior Tennis Association in the 16A grade when available.

She has had recent tournament success, winning the 12/u girls’ singles at the 2010 A.S. Lodge Little Masters. She was also a finalist in the 12/u girls’ singles and doubles at the Sawtell NSW Junior Clay Championships.

Hene is a student at Maribyrnong College where she trains three mornings per week with their tennis program and has private coaching lessons with Michael Baroch.

Hene recently completed her fifth term with Tennis Victoria’s Talent Development Program where she trained twice a week. The Talent Development Program is the pinnacle of the Talent Search and Development pathway in Victoria and includes some of the very best players in the state in the 12/u age group

“Hene has really worked hard to further her development over the past couple of months and her hard work is paying off,” said Ashley Naumann, Tennis Victoria’s Talent Development Manager.