Dinners drive champ

Upper Beaconsfield’s Sam Hall recently won the Warrnambool Junior Grasscourt Open. 25818 Picture: Stewart Chambers

By Stuart Teather
Most junior tennis stars dream of representing their country on Centre Court at the Australian Open, but for Upper Beaconsfield’s Sam Hall, well, his sights are set a bit lower.
After winning both singles and doubles at the Warrnambool Junior Grasscourt Open, his first points tournament victory of his blooming career, 16-year-old Hall declared he wanted to play State Grade Pennant within two years, but not for the reason many would expect.
“The best thing about (State Grade Pennant) is you get to play at Kooyong and everywhere, so you get to eat at restaurants after you’ve finished,” he laughed.
Whatever his ultimate goal, Hall was on song at Warrnambool, where he dominated the tournament from start to finish.
After cruising through the opening rounds, Hall dropped a set in the semi-final against Hampton’s Jordan Wright before rallying to claim the final 6-1, setting him up for a final showdown with his doubles partner, Jordan Owens.
Hall took the first set 6-3, dropped the second 3-6, then claimed a vital service break midway through the final set to win it 6-3.
The pair then combined to win their doubles final against fellow Upper Beaconsfield player Ben Anderson and Jordan Cowling 6-3 6-2.
Modest and reserved, the Haileybury College student bumped his Australian ranking towards 250 after his win at Warrnambool, but he still talked down his ability.
“I’m top 10 for Victoria, but that’s not really saying too much. I’m not going to turn pro or anything.” But his coach at the Pakenham Tennis Club, Paul Osborne, put it in perspective, and said Hall never got ahead of himself.
“He’s not one to carry on and get too confident about things,” he said. Both Osborne and Hall attributed the win at Warrnambool to the extra training Hall has had at Melbourne Park, since joining the National High Performance Academy six months ago.
“He’s been reaping the benefits,” Osborne said. “Probably not so much technically, but he’s certainly hitting the ball well with the extra practice.
“He’s striking the ball a lot harder and he’s got a lot more confidence out of it.”
The next step for Hall is to move up to the open age tournaments, as he cannot enter junior tournaments once he turns 17.
Perhaps Hall’s biggest adventure awaits in April, when he heads off to Belgium with his Haileybury College tennis team to compete in the World School Tennis Championships, after the team won the Australian Championships last year.