COAST ACE’S TOWERING EXPERIENCE
A 12-YEAR-OLD Gold Coast tennis ace says winning the right to play under the iconic Eiffel Tower in front of Grand Slam champions has been “extremely awesome”.
Hana Sonton made the quarter-finals of the Longines Future Aces Tournament in Paris being played while the world’s top pros contest the nearby French Open.
Sonton, representing Australia, downed Singapore, UK and Germany en route to the final eight, earning the right to a showdown against Italy on a temporary Eiffel Tower court.
She won in three tight sets before losing her semi-final to Spain at the weekend.
Sonton also got to meet Grand Slam champions and tennis greats Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario who told her she had great potential if she keeps working hard.
French Open finalist Alex Corretja was also involved.
Sonton, a member of Helensvale’s Discovery Park Tennis Club and who trains at Brisbane’s National Academy, said playing in Paris had been her best tennis experience so far.
“I’m disappointed I lost the semi but I’ve learnt a lot,” she said. “It was an amazing experience being able to compete and learn from these 20 different countries there in Paris.
“At first I was kinda’ cool about it but then I realised how special and great it was to meet famous players like Steffi, Agassi, Arantxa, and Alex. Also, to get some advice from Arantxa was excellent, she said to ‘give it your best out there and to work hard’. Alex said earlier in the tournament to compete your best and no matter what, respect the opponents on the court.”
Sonton’s favourite players are Roger Federer and German Grand Slam champion Angie Kerber.
Her Thai father Chailot and Japanese mum Momoko are involved with training her with coach Emma Hayman.