Tara Murray
Sunbury’s Jin Woodman set his sights on a big 2024 after missing out on a wildcard for the Australian Open.
Keen to make sure he would be in the mix for next year, Woodman has taken his game to the next level.
The young wheelchair tennis star improved his junior singles International Tennis Federation ranking from outside the top 10 to number three.
He also now boasts an ITF singles ranking of 156 and quad singles ranking of 21.
Woodman represented Australia in the World Team Cup in Turkey, where the team finished in second place. He also won the Megasaray Cup (boys), Brisbane Wheelchair Classic (juniors) and Queensland Wheelchair Open (junior grade A) and was a finalist at the Melbourne Wheelchair Classic.
He added to the Tennis Victoria male junior athlete award to his achievements in late October.
Woodman said it was pretty special to receive the award. Former grand slam finalist Mark Philippoussis is the biggest name past winner of the award.
“I’m shocked,” he said. “The people in my category, everyone had a good chance.
“I didn’t really expect it. If I lost it didn’t really matter, at least I tried.”
Woodman said he felt he had a first slow half of the year. His game started to pick up from June,
“I think from June to the end of October my game changed a lot over the months,” he said.
“I think it’s thanks to my coaches, especially from my school MSA [Maribyrnong Sports Academy], Hume [Hume Tennis and Community Centre] as well as people from TA [Tennis Australia].
Woodman said the sports academy had been massive for him in helping improve his game and off-court side of things.
He said he was pretty happy to be ranked number three in the world and hoped in the coming months that he could improve that.
One of the big moments for Woodman this year was competing in the US Open junior event. It was his first grand slam.
He beat fellow Aussie Yassin Hill in the opening round. The pair competed together in the doubles.
“I tried to think about it as a normal tournament,” he said. “It was nice to have an Aussie first round.
“It was a tough match going to a three setter. After that I felt happy.”
Woodman is hoping for a big Australian summer after he returns from competing in Turkey, which is his next event.
There will be two events held at the Hume, which is his home club.
Woodman said it was exciting to play big tournaments at his home court and also have the opportunity to watch the best in the world close up.
He is then hoping to make the Australian Open in January via a wildcard. He said if that doesn’t happen, he’ll hopefully play juniors there.
“This year my goal was to play the seniors,” he said. “Sadly that didn’t happen. I said to myself, next year is going to be mine and I put all the hard work and training to see where it pays off.”
