NSW recently took out its third consecutive Foundation Cup tournament in Melbourne thanks to the help of one of Gunnedah’s fastest rising junior tennis stars.
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Vitorio Sardhina became the fifth Gunnedah native to represent NSW at the tournament in recent years and proved crucial to his team’s success.
Knocking off the tournament’s top-ranked seed in his opening game, Sardhina went from strength to strength to help ensure NSW not only secured the top prize, but also went through undefeated.
“For me the real highlight was being involved in the team,” Sardhina said.
“I took a lot of confidence out of that first game against the top seed, who is ranked in the top 500 in Australia.
“From there, I was feeling really confident and it turned out to be an awesome tournament for us.”
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Vitorio’s coach Craig Louis was full of praise for the 13-year-old, saying “Vitorio will be something special”.
“I think throughout the tournament but especially in that first game, whenever Vitorio was challenged by his opponent he really stood up,” Louis said.
“That’s what will separate him going forward in my opinion, he’s not afraid to dig deep when he needs to and really fight it out.”
The tournament held at Melbourne’s Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, pitted the four best under-13 players from each state against each other and came fresh off the back of grass court tournaments in Shepparton, Albury and Wodonga.
“I think those three tournaments leading into the Foundation Cup were crucial for Vitorio’s preparation,” Louis said.
“He was really able to work on the basics of playing on a grass court such as, playing more at the net, slicing and being aggressive.
“His preparation compared to those kids who hadn’t played in those kinds of tournaments was far better and ultimately was the difference I think.”
For Sardhina, the road ahead will be a case of “one tournament at a time”.
“I’m not looking too far ahead to be honest,” Sardhina said.
“At this stage I think my next tournament will be sometime in February, but I’m not sure where.
“So I think I will just keep working on my game, try to keep getting better and have as much fun as I can.”