Jimboomba Tennis star set for rating climb after fourth place finish

Irwin finished fourth in the 17 and under age group at the Queensland championships of the junior development series from October 15-17 and may have finished higher had he not been hampered by a shoulder injury.

Irwin lost to the eventual winner of the tournament in the finals but was happy overall with his efforts.

“I played three round games which I won my rounds, and then played a semi-final and a playoff for third and fourth,” he said.

“I made semi-finals and played the guy who won the competition there, I lost 6-3, 6-2, but I was starting to get the shoulder issue going.

“I think it could have been closer, he was definitely number one for a reason and won the competition for a reason, but I would’ve liked the result to be a lot closer if my shoulder issue wasn’t there.

“I’ve definitely taken a lot of confidence out of it, I’m super happy with that effort.”

The Jimboomba 16-year-old who will have to rest his shoulder for a few weeks before returning to the court has clear goals for 2017.

“Climb the  Australian rankings and hopefully get a better result in the Rockhampton tournament next year,” he said.

With national rankings due to be released soon Irwin said he was confident of making a significant climb skyward,” he said.

At the moment my ranking is 2300 but we will have to wait for the rankings update from the previous Rockhampton tournament which comes through soon, probably be around the 1500 mark.

As part of his preparation for the tournament the FuturePros Tennis Academy player and Emmaus College student increased his training schedule from three hours a week to nine and said it definitely paid off and said he knows what to work on to continue to improve.

“One of my strengths is my serve and my athletic ability across the court,” he said.

 “Shortening points and coming to the net a bit more, I can definitely work on that.”