Above: Berwick tennis player Montana Grenfell will head overseas later this year and leave no stone unturned as she attempts to qualify for next year’s Australian Open Junior Championships.By Glen Atwell
TENNIS ace Montana Grenfell is ready to serve her way into the 2007 Australian Open Junior Championships.
But to make it to the Melbourne Park qualifiers, Grenfell, 15, must first win her way through several international tournaments.
With her sights set sky high, Grenfell and her mum, Jane, will jet to New Zealand, Fiji and New Caledonia for three weeks of tough tennis.
The three tournaments give Grenfell the chance to earn International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior ranking points, which are required to gain entry to the qualifiers of the Australian Open Junior Championships.
Grenfell said a stringent ranking system meant she couldn’t enter the remaining ITF tournaments in Australia this year.
“The Australian tournaments are levelled too high. I need to compete in a level four or five tournament,” she said.
First on the calendar is the Junior Open of New Caledonia, starting on 18 June.
Grenfell will then swing into action in Fiji on 26 June, before the New Zealand 18 and Under Indoor Championships on 4 July.
To gain the required number of points to enter the Australian Open Junior tournament, Grenfell said she didn’t necessarily have to win all three events.
“It would be great, but as long as I win a few matches and progress in the tournaments I should win enough points,” she said.
The whirlwind tennis trip is far from Grenfell’s local junior career.
“I’ve been playing properly for about three years,” she said.
“I’ve played juniors for Beaconsfield Tennis Club, at Hallam and now at Dingley.”
Grenfell is playing in the Grade One pennant competition for Dingley – a grade away from the elite State Grade level.
“I played my first match on Saturday and won 6-1 6-4, so I was really happy with that,” she said.
Jane said after waiting so long to watch her daughter play her first Grade One pennant match, it was all over in a flash.
“It was a strong win,” she said.
“Montana has been training so hard and it’s good to see the hard work paying off.”
But the overseas trip won’t come cheap and Grenfell is desperately seeking sponsorship before she leaves Australia.
“We’re selling a lot of chocolate and doing a lot fundraising, but a sponsor for Montana would be great,” Jane said.
Who knows, Montana might be the next Australian Open champion.
