TEEN TENNIS STAR HEADED FOR BIG STAGE
A CAIRNS tennis sensation is on his way to rub shoulders with some of the world’s premier players after the best year of his career so far.
Ben Wenzel will venture south to play in the Victorian Wheelchair and Melbourne Wheelchair opens leading into the build up of the Australian Open.
Wenzel is currently ranked number eight in the world junior wheelchair rankings and will be looking to rise up the standings over the next three weeks.
The 15-year-old tennis star is excited to take his game to another level when he plays alongside Heath Davidson, Australia’s top seeded quad division player and a two-time Paralympian.
“To play among some of the greats of the game is such an amazing feeling,” Wenzel said.
“Watching them play gives me so many opportunities to improve my game.
“It shows me what the level I have to get to is and that is really inspiring to my tennis game to get better.”
Wenzel, who was born with cerebral palsy, won Tennis Queensland’s Most Outstanding Athlete with Disability junior award and North Queensland Sports Foundation’s
Athlete with Disability Sportstar of the Year award for 2022.
It capped a massive year for Wenzel who started 2022 with a national title and claimed a World Cup.
“(It) was a great year for Australian wheelchair tennis, the junior team went to the World Cup early last year and won the junior division,” he said.
“To win a world championship for your country is the pinnacle of the sport. I mean you can’t really get much better than what I did.
“I would have to say that 2022 is my most successful year to date.”
The Cairns teenager will be heading to France after his trip to Melbourne to play in the Cruyff
Foundation Junior Masters tournament, but he has his eyes on bigger sights for 2023.
“I hope to continue to play good tennis and can qualify for the US Open later this year,” Wenzel said.
“Not just that, but for Masters again next year (2024) and to represent Australia in the World Cup in May this year.”
Coach Fred Lay said the improvement Ben had made over the past 12 months alone had been incredible.
“We have been working on his self-development and attitude both on and off the court,” Lay said.
“It was a bit of a surprise last year in the direction he is headed in.
“We didn’t expect it to fast track but the experience he had last year was awesome.”
The pair worked hard last year to develop his game and take it to the next level, which coach Lay believes it will set him up for a better 2023.
“He works hard off court in training and that does reflect on how he plays in match play,” Lay said.
“His strongest suit would be on court, playing and hitting but we are still improving on tactics.
“But once he knows his pattern well then is actually an awesome player and hard to beat.”