19 September 2012 | Tennis Victoria

Jai Corbett (McKinnon) is about to finish Year 12, but that hasn’t halted a career-best year on the tennis court.

Once he graduates, Corbett plans to join a college in America and pursue a professional career.

“I just want to try and get onto the ATP circuit,” said Corbett

“I want to try and play as many Future events and Challengers as I can and see how far I can get up in the tennis rankings.”

Currently ranked 106 in Australia, Corbett has been juggling tennis and schooling commitments for the last few months.

“Yeah it’s pretty tough. I’ve had to cut back on a few training sessions to try and do my best at school but whenever there is spare time, I am doing something for tennis,” said Corbett.

“School has taken a priority just because there is two months left of it … I just want to get school over and done with and focus on tennis.”

He is currently the second-ranked player in Victoria for the 1994 birth year. His ranking has jumped over 100 spots since the beginning of the year thanks to some impressive results including a semifinal appearance at last month’s 2012 TCAV AMT Platinum event.

Corbett’s coach Marcus Petrou said his “hard work and dedication” was starting to pay off.

“He has a good head on his shoulders and a hard working attitude,” said Petrou.

“I put him onto a great personal trainer … and his time management [between tennis and school] has been fantastic.”

Corbett started playing tennis when he was six and said he was still looking at ways to improve.

“I’d like to base my game around how solid [Novak] Djokovic is from the back of the court,” said Corbett.

“He has an all round game that I want to have.

“I am trying to focus on the best parts of many different players,” he added.

Corbett recently captained the Victorian 2012 Pizzey Cup team to third in the nation-wide competition.