27 February 2020 | Tennis West

WA’s Tristan Schoolkate will head to Adelaide on Friday to join the Australian Davis Cup team, as they prepare for the 2020 World Group Qualifiers against Brazil.

Taking the privilege as the teams Orange Boy, the 19 year old from Scarborough finished his junior playing career on a high last year, competing at all the major junior Grand Slam events, before laying claim to the both the Singles and Doubles Australian Championship titles, in what would be his final appearances on court as a junior. Transitioning to the professional tour as of September 2019, Schoolkate holds a current ATP ranking of world number 801.

The call up comes after a sensational start to Schoolkate’s time on the tour, which has seen the rising star contest seven ITF and ATP Challenger events, in addition to his first taste of Grand Slam action, where he was granted a wildcard entry to the 2020 Australian Open qualifying draw.

Schoolkate’s consistent performance and ability to go head to head against some of the world’s top 500 players, can be credited with drawing the attention of Davis Cup Captain Lleyton Hewitt, who was keen to have Schoolkate join the team’s bench.

The opportunity for learning is unprecedented, given Schoolkate will be right in the thick of all the Davis Cup 2020 World Group Qualifying action. With respective world No.23 and No.25, Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur leading the charge for Australia; John Millman, Jordan Thompson, and new recruit James Duckworth, will complete the Aussie squad, when the team attempts to advance to the Davis Cup Final, hosted in Madrid (Spain), in November.

The six foot, right-handed, aggressive baseliner, who received the call up personally from Hewitt in February, says he’s excited about the opportunity to join the best Australian men’s talent in Adelaide, and that he looks forward to learning from the likes of de Minaur and Kyrgios; with the hope of one day being in the same position to represent Australia on court at a Davis Cup tie.

‘It will be great to see what the top guys are doing day in and day out, and how they all work together with each other to keep improving. Hopefully I can buy in to all of that and improve myself,’

‘As the Orange Boy you get to be a part of the team, and you train with the guys and get to feel it, and understand how Davis Cup really works. Just being around that group of guys is going to be pretty cool,’

‘I get to wear the green and gold, but it won’t have my number on it, you’ve got to earn that,’

‘I would love to represent my country and play for Australia. It would be a great honor and everyone sort of works towards that. There’s a lot of great players at the moment, so I’ve got to work my way up to that,’ Schoolkate said.

Wise beyond his years, Schoolkate has just enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Western Australia. Focused on his long term future, he’s confident in his abilities of being able to juggle both a professional tennis career, as well as study.

‘I’ve always been pretty good at juggling things. I found I could do normal school and balance playing tournaments and travelling a lot,’

‘I want to give myself something else to think about while I’m playing tennis. I want to be able to go back to the hotel room, or where ever I’m playing, and actually learn something instead of just be on my phone all the time,’

‘I’ve got a lot of time to play with. Even when you’re at a tournament, you’re training and playing and training, but you’ve always got a spare couple of hours to do something and I’d rather do something that’s going to help me long-term, than do something that’s maybe just a little bit of fun,’ Schoolkate said.

Longtime coach and Tennis West National Academy Head Coach Andrew Roberts says he’s been impressed with how well Schoolkate has adapted to the pressures of the professional circuit and that the opportunity to join the Davis Cup team in Adelaide will be a great opportunity to learn from some of the world’s best players.

‘Being the Davis Cup Orange Boy will allow Tristan to shadow the players and practice with the team. It will be an amazing experience for him,’

‘Tristan will be able to see (and feel) the level of intensity that the team brings to each practice session and will be able to learn from the way that each player prepares themselves for the tie,’

‘It has always been Tristan’s dream to represent Australia at the highest level and this opportunity will give him a taste of what it’s like to play Davis Cup,’ Roberts said

Tennis West CEO Michael Roberts says Schoolkate’s invitation to join the Davis Cup team in Adelaide is a tremendous honor, as well as an incredible credit and recognition to his hard work, dedication and determination, which have been consistent traits observed since his days as a junior Academy player.

‘Tristan’s success, and call up to join the Davis Cup team as the Orange Boy, is a true testament to his continued efforts over a number of years,’

‘Having won the Tennis West Male Junior Athlete of the Year in 2017, 2018 and 2019, alongside being named nominated for Male Junior Athlete of the Year at the prestigious Newcombe Medal awards, where he was a finalist in 2019, says a lot about what’s in store for Tristan’s professional playing career,’

‘We’ve seen him grow up on the courts of the State Tennis Center and have observed for a long time now, how commits to his training and match preparation with his coach Andrew Roberts, who’s coached him since he joined the Academy ranks as promising 12 year old,’

‘The opportunity to be amongst some of Australia’s, and in fact the worlds, top ranked players, stands to provide Tristan with an unparalleled exposure to be amongst, and learn from, the very best in the game,’

‘Tristan’s future is bright and we wish him all the best as he heads to Adelaide to join the Aussie squad as the team’s Orange Boy,’ said Roberts.

Schoolkate will follow in the footsteps of fellow West Australian, Davis Cup and Fed Cup representatives, including Matt Ebden (Davis Cup), Astra Sharma (Fed Cup), Storm Sanders (Fed Cup), Casey Dellacqua (Fed Cup) and Maddison Inglis (Fed Cup Orange Girl).

To find out more about Schoolkate’s professional playing career, please follow here: https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tristan-schoolkate/s0n0/overview

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Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifier – Australia vs Brazil fast facts:

• The newly redeveloped Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, which now features a new woven fibreglass membrane roof over centre court, will host its second Davis Cup qualifier in 12 months
• Australia has met Brazil in Davis Cup on three occasions and leads the head-to-head count 3-0
• Their last meeting was a World Group Quarterfinal on clay in Florianopolis, Brazil in 2001. Australia won the tie 3-1
• Both teams are playing for a spot in the Davis Cup Finals. The winner will join 11 other qualifiers, the 2019 semifinalists, Canada, Great Britain, Russia and Spain, as well as the two 2020 wildcards, France and Serbia, in November in Madrid, Spain
• The qualifier will consist of four singles matches and one doubles match with all matches played over the best-of-three tiebreak sets. Two singles matches will be played on Friday 6 March with play starting at 1.00pm local time. On Saturday 7 March play will start at 12.00pm local time with the doubles match followed by the two reverse singles matches.