Tennis star in showdown

Christian Caldwell from Noosa Tennis Academy is off to Melbourne in December to attend the Under 12 Australian Championships held at Melbourne Park.
The competition is part of the championships where the country’s best players assemble at Melbourne Park for the December Showdown.
Over 16 days, more than 1500 matches are played to find out who is the best player across each age group.
The Australian Open Play-off is the centrepiece of the December Showdown.
The play-off sees players from around Australia battle it out for a golden ticket into the Australian Open.
The Year 5 Sunshine Beach student gained direct entry into the Australian Championships after an impressive year, including titles at the recent Queensland Clay Court Junior Championships, Victorian Grass Court Championships, Tasmanian State Age, NSW Clay Court Championships and many other tournaments around the country.
Christian only recently turned 11 years old, but has already been selected to attend the National Academy training program in Brisbane, which is run by Tennis Australia’s Performance Unit, to train with the best 11 and 12-year-old boys in the state.
He trains five days a week at the Noosa Tennis Academy which is part of the Noosa Tennis Club.
Christian’s father, Nick Caldwell, coaches at the Noosa Tennis Academy where he keeps a watchful eye on his development.
“Christian’s dedication and hard work is paying dividends and although he does miss out on some social activities, I can see that Christian is dedicated to the sport and that he is constantly striving to improve so he can continue his progress,” he said.
Christian will also attend the Brisbane International in January as part of the Sunshine Beach State School team who are off to defend their State Title as the previous winners of the Queensland Schools Tennis Challenge.