Taylors Lakes Tennis Club has set up ties with Thailand tennis through head coach Matthew Gregory.
On Sunday, Taylors Lakes welcomed some of the best young Thailand juniors to play against local up-and-coming players, organised through Gregory’s links with Thailand’s official sporting body.
Gregory has worked in high performance and professional tennis with the Sports Authority of Thailand, and is married to WTA top-100 ranked Thai doubles player Varatchaya Wongteanchai.
“This is the second time they’ve done it,” Taylors Lakes junior delegate Bobby Dela Cruz said. “They brought 16 kids to Australia, all national champions from the 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s teams, and they came to our club for a hit with our kids.
“One of them is a top junior with a world junior ranking of 200.”
There are benefits for the juniors of both countries. The Taylors Lakes players test themselves against world class juniors, while the Thailand players travel to play and finish off by taking in some of the action at the Australian Open.
“Because they push tennis, they’re able to reward the top juniors,” Dela Cruz said. “Last year, one of the girls (Bianco Compuesto) at our club, she took the Thailand under-14 national champion down to the wire.
“Bianca’s a top-ranked junior as well, top 250 in the Australian rankings, and currently with the Maribyrnong (Sports Academy) tennis school.”
It’s a busy time of the year for tennis clubs right across the west. The Australian Open and other ATP-WTA events have proven to be great promotions for the game, with numbers usually swelling at this time of the year.
Taylors Lakes, part of the North Suburban Junior Tennis Association, has the advantage of quality coaches Gregory and Patrick Henson.
“Matt talks really well with the kids … it’s pretty important how a teacher and student connects,” Dela Cruz said. “He’s a level three coach, and there’s only a dozen of them in Australia – and he’s the only one in the NSJTA.
“Patrick is from America and his dad is 80 years old and is still coaching in the States, so he grew up on a tennis court.”
