Excel Tennis have assisted countless junior players along their tennis journey, that have earned them a place amongst the best in their age group in either Victoria, Australia or the World.
Many of whom have built high ATP or WTA professional world rankings.
Alexander Babanine
Alex has a glowing record of tennis achievements, one of which includes playing in the Australian Open Junior Singles Championships Main Draw at Melbourne Park.
Excel Tennis Head Coach Marcus Petrou coached Alex since he was 8yrs old all the way through to being his coach at our very own Australian Open Grand Slam.
With an enviable list of successes, Alex sports such titles as – No.1 in Australia for Under 12yrs Singles rankings and being in the Top 8 in Australia in the Under 14yrs Singles rankings, while making the final of the National Hardcourt and Grasscourt Singles Championships.
He enjoyed some time competing through Europe playing ITF Junior Tournaments and lifted his World Junior ranking to 173, however had fantastic results against some Top 10 ITF Junior Players which proved his tennis level was amongst the best in the world in his age group.
Christopher Young
Chris is another success story from Excel Tennis Coaching.
Since 8yrs old, he trained under the watchful eye of Head Coach Marcus Petrou.
Chris can claim some impressive titles, including being in the Australian Open Junior Singles Championships Qualifying Draw for 2 years in a row of which he made the final round.
Chris consistently achieved notable tennis wins, putting his ranking inside the Top 3 in Australia in the Under 12yrs and Under 14yrs Singles rankings, before spending time overseas lifting his ITF World Junior ranking to 138.
Just a small selection of his achievements includes:
- Winner of the 12’U National Hardcourt Championships Singles and Doubles
- Winner of the 14’U National Claycourt Championships
- Winner of the 14’U National Claycourt Lead-in Championships Singles and Doubles
- Winner of the Noumea ITF, New Caledonia
- Finalist in the Hong Kong Open Junior Championships
Excel Tennis is very proud of Chris who was offered a tennis scholarship at Penn State in America to continue his tennis journey.
Jai Corbett
Jai began his coaching journey with Excel Tennis Head Coach Marcus Petrou at the age of 13yrs, at a time he was struggling to win matches in tournaments.
We applaud Jai for his hard work and dedication which saw him climb his way to the top, attaining the position of No.2 in Victoria and No.11 in Australia for the Under 18yrs Singles rankings while completing his Year 12 studies.
Jai enjoyed a series of tennis triumphs on his road to success.
Most notably, he won the Victorian Hardcourt Singles and Doubles Championships and represented Australia in the International Sports Federation World Schools Tennis Championships in Belgium, where Australia placed third.
We are very proud of Jai’s achievements and were delighted to see acknowledgement of his achievements in the Leader Newspaper and on the Tennis Victoria website. Please read the articles below.
Jai Corbett dreams big in life after school
19 September 2012 | Edwin Smith
Jai Corbett (McKinnon) is about to finish Year 12, but that hasn’t halted a career-best year on the tennis court.
Once he graduates, Corbett plans to join a college in America and pursue a professional career.
“I just want to try and get onto the ATP circuit,” said Corbett
“I want to try and play as many Future events and Challengers as I can and see how far I can get up in the tennis rankings.”
Currently ranked 106 in Australia, Corbett has been juggling tennis and schooling commitments for the last few months.
“Yeah it’s pretty tough. I’ve had to cut back on a few training sessions to try and do my best at school but whenever there is spare time, I am doing something for tennis,” said Corbett.
“School has taken a priority just because there is two months left of it … I just want to get school over and done with and focus on tennis.”
He is currently the second-ranked player in Victoria for the 1994 birth year. His ranking has jumped over 100 spots since the beginning of the year thanks to some impressive results including a semifinal appearance at last month’s 2012 TCAV AMT Platinum event.
Corbett’s coach Marcus Petrou said his “hard work and dedication” was starting to pay off.
“He has a good head on his shoulders and a hard working attitude,” said Petrou.
“I put him onto a great personal trainer … and his time management [between tennis and school] has been fantastic.”
Corbett started playing tennis when he was six and said he was still looking at ways to improve.
“I’d like to base my game around how solid [Novak] Djokovic is from the back of the court,” said Corbett.
“He has an all round game that I want to have.
“I am trying to focus on the best parts of many different players,” he added.
Corbett recently captained the Victorian 2012 Pizzey Cup team to third in the nation-wide competition.
