Coelho Open to the world

By Marc McGowan
ENDEAVOUR Hills tennis star Andrew Coelho is back in the country for another tilt at next month’s Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
And he is more confident than ever that he can reach his first grand slam singles draw.
Australian Open officials have given Coelho, 21, a wildcard into the doubles draw the last three years and he reached the second round in 2006.
“I definitely feel better than previous years and I’m working with my old coach (Andrew Florent) again,” he said.
“I’m working on coming forward a bit more and finishing at the net, and not getting too far behind the baseline.”
The left-hander added two singles and three doubles Futures’ titles this year, while also making seven semi-final appearances and one other final.
Coelho endured a tough period in the middle of the year when he lost 13 of 17 matches at one stage, but managed to reach a career-high ranking of 281 last month.
“My year has been pretty good. I started the year off quite well and was consistent in Futures’ events, making six semis at the start of the year,” he said.
“I went to Europe and pretty much all around the world and didn’t do as great as I’d hoped, but since being back home it’s been really good so far and I’ve finished off the year pretty good.”
Coelho will compete in next week’s Australian Open Wildcard Playoff for the right to earn a place in the singles draw at next month’s grand slam.
He reached the final in the tournament as a teenager in 2005 and will have to beat the likes of Davis Cup representatives Peter Luczak and Carsten Ball, talented Queenslander Robert Smeets and defending champion Joe Sirianni.
A change in the Australian competition schedule has allowed Coelho to take a different approach in the lead-up to the wildcard playoff.
There was a one-month hiatus in Australian Futures’ events between October and November and he managed a week’s rest from training during that period.
“I could have gone overseas and played in Asia, but I decided to stay home and put in a bit of a training block,” Coelho said.
“It’s really good to be back home in Australia and everything is so much better than being away.
“I’ve also given myself a bit more time off just to relax and get my body right and freshen up for the upcoming tournaments.”
Coelho’s ranking has slipped to 342, but he is confident he can make major improvements next year.
“It was quite tough in that period (when he lost 13 of 17 matches this year), but I was playing some bigger tournaments and the opposition was better than I was used to playing,” he said.
“When I was playing some of the bigger tournaments I was able to get my ranking up and hopefully I’ll get into those tournaments again next year.
“I’ve set a few ranking goals and I’m looking to get a bit bigger physically.”
The Australian Open Wildcard Playoff starts next Monday at Melbourne Park and concludes the following Sunday.