15 November 2012 | Tennis Victoria

At 16 years old, Isabelle Wallace (Bentleigh East) has already established herself as one of the rising stars of Australian tennis.

She reaffirmed this status on Sunday during the opening round of the Asia-Pacific Tennis League-Vic Conference (ATL), claiming both her matches including a win over the more experienced Masa Jovanovic.

“It’s different, but it’s quite fun,” said Wallace.

“The matches are quite short, you have to be ready for anything and just go for it,” she said.

Wallace played in the No.2 position for the Frankston Firebirds, with team manager Anne Baldwin declaring she was amazed by Wallace’s enthusiasm on-court after she helped the Firebirds to an opening round win over Belgrave Rangers.

“She is a very aggressive player and her shot choice is excellent,” said Baldwin.

“She digs deep when the going gets tough, they had a tough doubles match and she fought through.”

“Isabelle is definitely a team player, she never gives up,” Baldwin added.

Ranked No.40 in Australia and the highest-ranked player in Victoria for the 1996 birth year, Wallace has her sights set high for the coming years.

“I want to get my ITF ranking higher, I am 180 at the moment and I want to get into the top 50” said Wallace.

“I want to get up to the professional level, hopefully into the top 10 or 20 is probably my goal,” she added.

Despite her young age, Wallace also boasts a WTA ranking and has a number of impressive results to her name, including winning both the 2012 Tennis World AMT Platinum in February and the 2012 Optus 16s National Claycourt Championships and she was a finalist at the 2012 Cairns Platinum AMT.

The Firebirds play their second round match on Friday night from 7pm at Frankston Tennis Club.