James Duckworth

After returning from a back injury that kept him out for most of 2009, James Duckworth turned heads with his impressive performances in the December Showdown. As third seed, he reached the quarterfinals of the Optus 18s Australian Championships before also making the quarters of the Australian Open Play-off.

James built on his third-round showing at the 2009 Australian Open Juniors by making the quarterfinals in 2010, upsetting fifth seed Liang-Chi Huang from Taiwan along the way. The AIS Scholarship holder went on to take consecutive titles at Grade 1 ITF Junior Championships in Malaysia and the Philippines. James made the semifinals of the Junior French Open before losing in a close match to the eventual winner.

No stranger to national duties, James served as an orange boy for Australia’s Davis Cup squad in Brisbane in May; and in 2008 he was a member of Australia’s Junior Davis Cup team that competed in the finals in Mexico.

James took up tennis aged seven and his whole family, including father, David, sister, Kate, and brother, Nick, play tennis. His goal is to reach the highest level in the sport, following in the footsteps of his hero, Andy Murray, who James says “is an extremely clever tennis player with a vast amount of talent to back it up”.

In his spare time, James enjoys table tennis, soccer, cricket and bodyboarding. His favourite surfaces are grass and hard courts.