Thursday, May 10, 2018

Written by Tennis New Zealand

Hard-working 15-year-old Corban Crowther was runner up in boys' singles and doubles at the U14 NZ National Championships this year.

He also competed for NZ in this year's ITF JDC Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying event. In late 2017 Corban won the 2017 Tennis NZ Junior Masters Finals in Wellington.

Last year, Corban played tournaments in the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. He made the final of a grade three tournament in Amsterdam, the quarter-finals on two occasions at grade 1 tournaments in Germany, and he won an open-graded money tournament in the Netherlands.

Then, he entered a grade 2 tournament in Benidorm, Spain where he was seeded eighth. In undoubtedly the performance of his career, Corban defeated three Spanish players and a Briton to make the final against the top seed from Spain.

The early momentum went the way of the Spaniard, but Corban fought back to beat the local in front of his home fans. The career-defining victory saw his European junior ranking go from 228 to 121.

Corban started his tennis journey at four years old when he was enrolled into a junior grassroots tennis programme facilitated by BayTrust CoachForce Tennis Development Officer Peter O'Dea. Corban currently belongs to Tauranga Lawn Tennis Club.

Here's a quick Q&A, thanks to Tennis NZ:

Favourite moment so far in your tennis career

2017 Tennis trip to Europe

If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

Monte-Carlo, Monaco

What is the funniest thing you have seen on the tennis court?

Someone snap a racquet

What are you most scared of?

Bungee Jumping

What is your favourite pre-match food?

BurgerFuel

What areas do you feel that you need improvement in?

Consistency in a rally and speed around the court

If you could compete another sport what would it be?

Running or Biking

Who is the person you most admire?

Rafael Nadal

Do you play other sports? If so which ones?

Running

What do you do to calm your butterflies while you compete?

Have fun and stay focused

Name three things on your bucket list.

Play in the French Open, be able to Slam Dunk, run a Marathon, learn the French language.

What is your greatest tennis accomplishment?

Making the Junior Davis Cup Team to go to Malaysia this year.

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