Melbourne, Victoria, 13 February 2012 | Tennis Australia

The rising stars of Australian tennis, James Duckworth, Ben Mitchell, Luke Saville, Ashleigh Barty and Naiktha Bains are among those awarded AIS Pro Tour Program tennis scholarships for 2012.

The AIS Pro Tour Program is a full-time on-the-road touring program promoting excellence in tennis and designed as the pinnacle of athlete development within the Tennis Australia pathway.

“The AIS Pro Tour program aims to help our young athletes’ transition from juniors to the professional level,” said Brent Larkham, AIS Men’s Head Coach.

“The program offers athletes a range of support including superior coaching and comprehensive sports science and medical support to ensure they have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

“We have already had a very exciting start to the new year with Luke Saville winning the Australian Open Junior Championships, James Duckworth winning main draw matches at the Brisbane International and the Australian Open, Ben Mitchell scoring wins over two top 100 players in Sydney and Jason Kubler winning Futures events in the USA.

“All the AIS scholarship holders have met full criteria and are tracking in their birth year to become top 100 players after producing sustainable results over the past 12 months. These are the players who deserve the full extent of resources and help that Tennis Australia and the AIS can provide,” Larkham explained.

“The program has also evolved to offer greater flexibility and this year will have a number of AIS visiting athletes who will integrate with the program.  Some of these players have or will hit full criteria this year, but still need to prove they can sustain performance at this level. We will also carefully follow the results of our National Academy athletes who are looking to step up this year and put themselves forward for inclusion into the program.”

Nicole Pratt AIS Women’s Head Coach says the women’s program allows players to similarly progress to different levels along their career paths.

“This year we have two scholarship holders – Naiktha Bains and Ashleigh Barty both tracking to be top 100 players. We will put the resources behind them so they can meet ranking benchmarks and have the best opportunity to achieve their full potential,” said Pratt.

“Sally Peers, Isabella Holland and Olivia Rogowska, scholarship holders from last year, have all progressed and graduated into the next level, which is a Fed Cup squad and this is a real positive from an AIS perspective,” Pratt continued.

The 2012 AIS athletes are as follows:

James Duckworth (NSW)
AIS coaching team: Brent Larkham, Ben Mathias, Ian Prangley
Age 20
Best results:
2012 – second round of Australian Open and Brisbane International
2011 – won two ITF events in Italy and two ITF events in Poland
Current ATP ranking: 210

Ben Mitchell (Qld)
AIS coaching team: Brent Larkham, Ben Mathias, Ian Prangley
Age 19
Best results:
2012 – round one of Australian Open and Brisbane International
2011- won Futures events in Traralgon, Esperance, Berri and Spain and runner up at Bendigo, Kalgoorlie, Cairns, Alice Springs and Great Britain
Current ATP ranking: 222

Jason Kubler (Qld)
AIS coaching team: Brent Larkham, Ben Mathias, Ian Prangley
Age 18
Best results:
2012 – won Futures in Palm Coast, Florida, and finalist in both Plantation and Weston in Florida 2011 – won Futures events in Niceville, Florida and Birmingham, Alabama, semifinalist in Amelia Island, Florida, quarterfinalist in Italy and Chile
Current ATP ranking: 465

Luke Saville (SA)
AIS coaching team: Des Tyson, David Jones
Age 18
Best results Juniors:
Ranked world No. 1 junior as of 2 January 2012, won Australian Open Junior Championships, finalist Traralgon International
2011 – won 2011 Wimbledon Junior Championships, finalist Australian Open Junior Championships, quarterfinalist US Open Juniors
Best results Seniors:
Quarterfinalist at Futures event in Bendigo, first round win in Traralgon, doubles titles in Bendigo and Traralgon
Current ATP ranking: 1168

Nick Kyrgios (ACT)
AIS coaching team: Des Tyson, David Jones
Age 16
Best results Juniors:
Best ITF junior ranking No.15 of 2 January 2012.
2012 – first round win at Australian Open Junior Championships
2011 – third round at Wimbledon Junior Championships and Australian Open Junior Championships, won Dunlop Japan Open, semifinalist Osaka Mayor’s Cup and Auckland 18 & Under Summer Championships

Chris O’Connell (NSW)
Visiting Athlete Scholarship AIS coaching team: Des Tyson, David Jones
Age 17
Best results Juniors:
Best ITF junior ranking 501 in January 2010.  2012 – first round win at Australian Open Junior Championships, second round win at Traralgon
Best results Seniors:
2011 – first round win at Esperance Futures event
Current ATP ranking: 1714

Andrew Whittington (Vic)
Visiting Athlete Scholarship, AIS coaching team: Simon Rea, David Jones
Age 18
Best results Juniors:
Best ITF junior ranking No.6 in May 2011.2011 – first round win at French Open Juniors and Wimbledon Junior Championships, won Philippines Juniors Championships and 17th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup
Best results Seniors:
2011 – quarterfinalist at Futures events in Mildura and Kalgoorlie, first round wins in Bendigo and California. Doubles Futures titles in Bendigo and Traralgon
Current ATP ranking: 961

Andrew Harris (Vic)
Visiting Athlete Scholarship, AIS coaching team: Simon Rea, David Jones
Age 17
Best results Juniors:
Ranked world No.6 ITF Juniors 23 Jan 2012
2012 – second round win at Australian Open Junior Championships
2011 – won Air Pacific Oceanic Closed Junior Championships, finalist Seogwipo Asian/Oceania Closed International Junior Championships, Lee Duk Hee Cup Chuncheon International Junior Championships and Queensland Junior Winter International 2
Best results Seniors:
2011 – quarterfinalist at Darwin Futures event
Current ATP ranking: 1223

Alex Bolt (SA)
Visiting Athlete Scholarship  – AIS coaching team: Simon Rea, David Jones
Age 19
Best results Seniors:
2011 – semifinalist Darwin Futures event, first round win in Cairns, Serbia, Poland
Current ATP ranking: 889

Naiktha Bains (Qld)
AIS coaching team: Nicole Pratt Stefano Barsacchi
Age 14
Best results Juniors:
First round of Australian Open Junior Championships
2011 – won Sydney Junior International, won Gosford Junior International, won Waikato 18 and under Championships
ITF Junior ranking: 290

Ashleigh Barty (Qld)
AIS coaching team: Jason Stoltenberg, Stefano Barsacchi
Age 15
Best results Juniors:
ITF junior ranking No.2 in December 2011
Won Wimbledon Junior Championships, won Junior Fed Cup, won Astrid Bowl, 17th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup, semifinalist at US Open Junior Championships
Best results Seniors:
2012 – first round of Australian Open 2012, first round of Moorilla Hobart International
2011 – quarterfinalist at ITF Mildura, Sydney, qualified for Bundaberg
Current WTA ranking: 633

Storm Sanders (WA)
Visiting Athlete Scholarship – AIS coaching team: Nicole Pratt Stefano Barsacchi
Age 17
Best results Juniors:
2012 – third round of Australian Open Junior Championships
Best results Seniors:
2012 – qualified for ITF Burnie
2011 – quarterfinalist at ITF Alice Springs, first round win at Traralgon, Texas, qualified for Esperance and Darwin
Current WTA ranking: 640