Jin Woodman, at age 15, claimed a hard-fought victory over buddy and mentor Heath Davidson to achieve the AO 2025 quad wheelchair singles quarterfinals.
Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2025 | Zoe Malliaris
Australian Open 2025 wheelchair tournaments kicked off on Tuesday, marking a historic second for Australian gamers.
The 2024 version options essentially the most Australians ever competing within the quad wheelchair singles draw on the Australian Open, and 15-year-old Jin Woodman makes historical past because the youngest wheelchair participant to compete at a Grand Slam.
Australia sees 4 males’s wheelchair gamers competing at Melbourne Park – Anderson Parker within the males’s singles, in addition to Finn Broadbent, Heath Davidson, and Woodman within the quad singles occasion.
At age 15 Woodman etched his identify additional into the report books by changing into the youngest to win a Grand Slam match. Woodman confronted fellow Aussie and wheelchair nice Heath Davidson – who additionally occurs to be certainly one of his mentors – within the first spherical, rising with a 7-6(2) 2-6 6-3 win.
“I imply, contemplating my age, I by no means thought this may really occur,” a shocked Woodman informed tennis.com.au. “I really feel actually completely happy.”
> READ: Woodman leads history-making quad wheelchair contingent at AO 2025
The younger Aussie mirrored on the importance of competing towards his mentor, Davidson, who had a big affect on his early path within the sport.
“In 2016, I believe I used to be like 5 or 6, he got here again from Rio with the gold medal. I requested for a photograph with it, and I nonetheless have that picture at dwelling,” he recounted.
“Then, after I really acquired into tennis extra, I stored visiting him. He’d say, ‘I’ll see you on the massive courts sooner or later,’ and I’d say, ‘All proper.’ I believed it was a joke – however now, right here we’re.”
> READ: De Minaur joins elite firm at AO 2025
Woodman additionally shared a defining second from his childhood when he carried out the coin toss for a Davidson match towards Andy Lapthorne.
Watching his fellow Australian play that day, he mentioned, gave him the boldness to dream large.
Now following in his mentor’s footsteps, Woodman hopes to encourage the subsequent era of gamers.
His recommendation to these beginning their journey? “By no means quit. The onerous work will get you there. The proof is right here.”
It was a tougher day for Parker and Broadbent, who exited to top-five seeds of their respective occasions.
Parker fell to world No.1 Tokito Oda within the males’s wheelchair singles, whereas Broadbent exited to No.4 seed Ahmet Kaplani the quad wheelchair occasion.
Discover your technique to play: Go to play.tennis.com.au to hit the court docket and have some enjoyable!
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