Namibian tennis star Connor van Schalkwyk yesterday got his breakthrough to the international tennis arena, following his admission into the main draw of the 2022 edition of the Australian Open Junior Championships. 

The Australian Open Junior Championships, which is the junior version of the elite Australian Open tournament, will take place in January next year and will see the world’s top junior tennis stars battling it out to improve their world rankings and hopefully win honours.

The Namibia Tennis Association (NTA) confirmed yesterday on all its social media platforms that the organisers of the prestigious Australian Open have admitted Van Schalkwyk into the main draw of the men’s singles.

He will be joined by 64 other juniors and going into next year’s competition, Van Schalkwyk’s confidence will be aided by his respectable 76th world ranking, an 84%-win rate on the hard court and a 100%-win rate on the clay court.

The 2022 Australian Open will be the 110th edition of the tournament and will be held at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tournament is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is part of the 2022 ATP Tour and the 2022 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category.

The tournament consists of both men’s and women’s singles and doubles draws as well as mixed doubles events. There are singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which are part of the Grade A category of tournaments. 

The junior competitions will return next year after a year’s absence. There are also singles, doubles and quad events for men’s and women’s wheelchair tennis players as part of the Grand Slam category.

The tournament will be played on hard courts and will be taking place across a series of 25 courts, including the four main show courts of Rod Laver Arena, John Cain Arena (formerly Melbourne Arena), Margaret Court Arena and 1573 Arena. It is also the debut of Show Court Arena, which now makes five main tennis arenas.

- ohembapu@nepc.com.na