20 October 2011 | Tennis Victoria

Fourteen year-old Zoe Hives recently capped off a stellar 12 months, winning her first national title, the 14/u Spring Nationals in Sydney.

The win was a great result for Zoe, who is from Kingston (near Ballarat) as not many regional based athletes win such titles.

“It’s a great credit to Zoe and her work ethic to be her best,” said Peter Joyce, Zoe’s private coach.

Despite being sick with the flu in the week leading up to the tournament, Zoe put up a great fight, eventually taking out the title with a straight sets win over the No.1 seed, Sara Tomic, 6-2 7-6.

“I just wanted to play like I can play,” said Hives after the win.

“I thought my forehand went well and my serve was going pretty well until I did a couple of doubles (faults), but before that it was pretty good.”

Zoe’s parents Jan and Neil are very proud of her achievement.

“The first round was the hardest – it could have been all over there and then,” said Neil Hives.

“She fought through and got the reward she’s been working for since February.”

The title capped off a terrific 12 months for Zoe who, late last year, was invited to train with the National Academy Melbourne and represented Victoria at the 2010 Optus 14s Australian Teams Championships during the December Showdown at Melbourne Park.

This year she has also won the 16/u singles at the Australia Post Margaret Court Cup and the 78th Glen Iris Underage Championships.

Having started playing tennis at the age of five on the tennis court at home with her parents, Zoe is now ranked No.4 in Victoria and No.12 in Australia for her birth year.

She currently spends about three hours a day training at the Ballarat Regional Tennis Centre with Coach Peter Joyce both privately and as part of the WestVic Academy of Sport: Tennis Program, and at the University of Ballarat Toning Point Gym for strength and conditioning.

Zoe loves the challenge of competing and the ‘feeling of when the ball comes off the racquet really well’. She describes her style as an attacking all-court game and her goal for the future is to compete at the highest level.