14 February 2018 | Lucy Hodsdon

Tristan Schoolkate is a name you’ll want to make a point of remembering. He is the number 1 ranked junior tennis player in Western Australia, and Tristan has just returned from playing at the Junior Australian Open for the first time after he received a wild card entry.

When asked what his first impression was of the Junior AO, Tristan simply says “Wow”.

“To be able to play in front of a crowd, where there was people you’ve never seen before, screaming out your name, it was a pretty cool experience” said Tristan, as he reflects on his Junior Australian Open debut.

Growing up and imagining what it would be like to play against the greatest tennis players in the world is one thing but rubbing shoulders with them at a Grand Slam tournament is something else.

“It was pretty cool just being able to stand one metre away from players like (Rafael) Nadal and (Grigor) Dimitrov and guys like that, it was pretty surreal”.

“I was in the locker room and Grigor Dimitrov came in, and he must have seen me hit a few balls, and he came up, shook my hand and said ‘you’re hitting it well man'” recalls Tristan with a grin spreading across his face.

If a player in the world top 5 ranking is taking notice of our local WA boy Tristan Schoolkate, then we suggest you do too.

 

We took a moment to get to know more about Tristan,

 

Full Name: Tristan Schoolkate

Nickname: Bus. This originates from Schoolkate, to Schoolbus… you get the drift!

Age: 16

Birth Place: Perth

Local Club: Cottesloe Tennis Club

Plays: Right Handed

Coach: Andrew Roberts

How were you introduced to tennis? My Dad is a coach and we just started hitting against a wall in the backyard when I was 4. I was selected for the National Academy – Perth, when I was 11. The academy has been an important part of my development as an athlete and has given me opportunities I wouldn’t be lucky enough to have had otherwise.

Favourite Player: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Your goal for 2018? Do as well as I can in my tennis, finish off year 12 at school and see what happens after that, open up as many opportunities as I can through the pathway here at Tennis West and Tennis Australia.

Greatest achievement: My greatest achievement was presenting Australia at the 14/under World Junior Teams qualifying event in Thailand, and the World Junior Teams finals that were played in the Czech Republic.

Any pre-match rituals? Not really, nothing that I do every time. I tend to just stay really organised before a match.

What song gets you pumped up before a match? I used to listen to ‘Can’t Hold Us’ by Macklemore, but then I lost a few games, so I got rid of the music before a match.

Favourite movie: Kingsman: Secret Service

Favourite food: There are a lot, but if I had to limit it to just one, it would have to be Connoisseur Cookies & Cream Ice Cream.

If you could have any super power what would it be? Flying would be pretty cool.

Hobbies: I play a lot of play station, body-boarding at the beach, and tennis.

 

To learn more about other WA local William Hann please click here