Coelho Opens a streak

By Marc McGowan
The 21-year-old from Endeavour Hills will partner journeyman Victorian Joe Sirianni against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Romanian Victor Hanescu.
Coelho reached the second round of the same event with Davis Cup player Carsten Ball on debut in 2006.
But his bid for a place in the singles draw at the year’s opening grand slam ended in the first round of qualifying when he lost 6-3 4-6 6-3 to fellow Australian Peter Luczak last week.
“I didn’t mind that match-up against Pete because my game suits him,” Coelho said.
“I went into the match reasonably confident I could get the win, but I knew it was a tough match-up.”
Coelho struggled with the windy conditions early before levelling the contest at a set apiece and threatening to break Luczak at 3-2 and 15-40 on the latter’s serve.
But he was unable to grasp the opportunity and subsequently lost his own serve in the next game.
“There were definitely patches where I played at a level capable of winning the match, so that was obviously a positive point,” Coelho said.
“There are some areas I need to look into how I can improve and take it from there.”
Coelho, of Portuguese heritage, is heading into unknown territory this year after quitting his Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarship last September to work with former coach Andrew Florent again.
Florent is not expected to travel with Coelho, ranked 332 in the world in singles, this season due to his coaching commitments in Victoria.
Coelho will be in the country more than normal, but will still spend plenty of time abroad due to the dearth of tournaments in Australia as he chases a top-150 ranking.
“It will definitely be a bit different because I haven’t (travelled alone) before,” he said.
“I kind of know where and what I want to play this year and I want to stick to the hard courts.”
Coelho is also acutely aware of the monetary strain being out of the AIS program will bring.
“It’s going to be pretty much family support, which makes it a lot tougher, but, for the moment, that’s the way it has to be,” he said.
“I don’t have anyone (sponsoring me) at the moment, but it’d be good if I could get some.” Coelho believes the support a travelling coach brings will be what he misses most.
His Swedish girlfriend, Michaela Johansson, also plays on the secondary tour, while Coelho said he will rely on the likes of fellow players Ball, Sam Groth, Colin Ebelthite, Adam Feeney and Chris Guccione. “I want to definitely make a big jump this year and get inside the top-150 range or better,” he said.
“I’ve been travelling for the last couple of years competing in challengers and I know the standard and quality of tennis I need to produce to win and I think I’m capable of doing that.”