Seventeen-year-old Ben Wenzel turned the primary Australian to win a junior wheelchair Grand Slam match in convincing fashion on Wednesday.
Melbourne, VIC, 22 January 2025 | Jackson Mansell
Ben Wenzel made historical past on Wednesday morning, changing into the primary Australian to win a junior wheelchair Grand Slam match.
The 17-year-old secured an emphatic 6-0 6-1 victory over Brazilian Luiz Calixto to even his Australian Open 2025 ledger. Earlier within the round-robin match, Wenzel misplaced in straight units to Alexander Lantermann, the No.2 seed from Germany.
The inaugural main boys’ wheelchair singles match is a testomony to the expansion of wheelchair tennis all over the world, a platform to encourage the subsequent technology.
“Yesterday we had All Talents Day right here, and we had, I feel, over 20 children come to the Come and Strive [session],” Wenzel stated.
“To see wheelchair tennis rising in Australia and all over the world is simply superior and it provides us present wheelchair gamers extra folks to play towards, and people folks then permit the game to get into greater and higher locations like we did with wheelchair tennis this 12 months.
“Having these folks come and see me play on the AO and galvanizing the youthful technology is admittedly, actually essential, and I’m actually fortunate that I’m able to do this.”
“I used to be able to make historical past.”
Ben Wenzel talks us by way of the second he turned the primary Aussie participant to win a junior wheelchair match on the Australian Open.#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/avXHXVeyCM
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 22, 2025
The 17-year-old has thrived underneath the mentorship of Australian quad singles No.1 Heath Davidson. Wenzel hopes he will pay that recommendation ahead to the celebrities of tomorrow.
“He was one of many first wheelchair tennis gamers that in that youthful stage [I] was in a position to meet and he spoke to me and now he’s with me, typically once I’m down right here in Melbourne so his mentorship and steering is admittedly essential,” stated Wenzel on his relationship with the Wimbledon 2023 finalist.
“His steering and mentorship permits me to look [at] tennis as being enjoyable and thrilling. It’s actually nice that he has such an impression on us youthful gamers and I assume I’m simply attempting to hold that ahead into the subsequent technology.”
> MORE: Woodman claims milestone win at AO 2025
The 37-year-old Davidson is comfortable to cross on his wealth of data.
“I’m getting outdated,” he joked. “My job is to get these next-gens (the subsequent technology) up and about and provides again to them as a result of I don’t understand how lengthy I’ve acquired left on this physique. So, something that I can do to assist the youthful technology succeed and be capable of come and play the Aussie Open and make a dwelling off wheelchair tennis, that’s my job now.”
Davidson commends the work ethic of the Queensland-based Wenzel, highlighting him as a participant to observe.
“I bear in mind going as much as Cairns about seven years in the past and we went up there to do some demos and stuff, and he was there and he was eager and simply needed it,” Davidson stated on his first interplay with the boys’ world No.7. “I may see him having a very vibrant future. He’s so devoted and eager to get higher, which is admittedly superior to see.”
One other participant underneath Davidson’s steering, Jin Woodman, ended his maiden Australian Open marketing campaign on Wednesday, falling to world No.4 Ahmet Kaplan 6-2 6-4.
Aussies in motion – Australian Open
TODAY’S RESULTS
Quad wheelchair singles, quarterfinals
[4] Ahmet Kaplan (TUR) d [WC] Jin Woodman (AUS) 6-2 6-4
Boys’ wheelchair singles, spherical robin
Benjamin Wenzel (AUS) d Luiz Calixto (BRA) 6-0 6-1
COMING UP
Boys’ wheelchair singles, spherical robin
Benjamin Wenzel (AUS) v [1] Charlie Cooper (USA)
Discover your method to play: Go to play.tennis.com.au to hit the court docket and have some enjoyable!
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