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Ashley Cooper Scholarship
The purpose of the Ashley Cooper Scholarship is to identify tennis players aged 12 to 24 across Australia who need support to help deliver on their elite potential.
The Ashley Cooper Scholarship founders wish to commemorate Ashley John Cooper and provide financial support to aspiring athletes who meet the selection criteria which aligns to the values and prowess for which Ashley Cooper was renowned.
Eligibility for the scholarships is determined by a nominations committee and potential recipients must:
- have resided in Australia for a period of at least three years immediately prior to nomination
- be aged between 12–24
- have elite potential in the sport of tennis and
- have a need for support due to disadvantage.
Player impact
The Ashley Cooper Scholarship program doesn’t just support rising Australian talent – it genuinely moves the needle on players’ careers.
Three clear stories have emerged:
- Breakthroughs on tour
- Rising stars accelerating toward the elite
- A strengthened pipeline of emerging talent.
Breakthroughs on tour
Several scholarship athletes made the jump from promising prospects to legitimate tour‑level contenders.
Adam Walton (2022 & 2023 awardee) delivered one of the standout stories of the year. His run to the round of 16 at the Miami ATP Masters 1000 marked a true breakthrough, backed up by a steady climb in the rankings – from No.91 in January to No.78 by December 2025. But the moment that turned heads globally came in Cincinnati, where he stormed back from a set down to topple former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in a 6‑7(0) 6‑4 6‑1 upset.
Talia Gibson (2024 awardee) kept her momentum rolling throughout the year, pushing toward the WTA top 100. She notched her first Australian Open main-draw win and held match points against world No.22 Diana Shnaider in the second round. Fresh off the Aussie summer, she added another highlight by claiming the W75 Brisbane title in February 2026.
Tristan Schoolkate (2024 awardee) also took a major step forward. The 24‑year‑old finished inside the ATP top 100 for the first time after a 44‑win season and two ATP Challenger titles – strong enough to earn him his first Newcombe Medal nomination.
Taylah Preston (2022, 2023 & 2025 awardee) added her own milestone with her first Grand Slam main-draw victory at the Australian Open in 2026 before a tight three‑set loss to 13th seed Linda Noskova. It followed her first WTA semifinal in Hobart. With her blistering start to 2026, Preston is tracking firmly towards a top-100 breakthrough.
Rising stars on the fast track
A second group of athletes have tightened the gap between themselves and the upper tiers of the sport.
Dane Sweeny (2023 awardee) grabbed headlines at the Australian Open when he outlasted Gael Monfils in a four‑set thriller and closed the book on the French star’s 20‑year AO career. He then tore through the Pro Tour, winning 24 straight matches and four titles across Brisbane and Tamworth. His ranking subsequently soared from world No.320 to No.138.
Elena Micic (2025 awardee) continued to build momentum, making solid ranking gains from world No.403 in singles at the end of 2024 to her career-best mark of world No.347 in 2026 following her first ITF final in Darwin in October 2025. She won three straight ITF doubles titles in 2025 and sits on the brink of the top 200.
Petra Hule (2022 & 2023 awardee) rediscovered her form with consistent results across the Australian Pro Tour, which included her first WTA 125 doubles title in Canberra in 2025 alongside Jaimee Fourlis. Hule reached her career-best doubles rankings of No.119 in June 2025 and world No.287 in singles in 2024.
Strengthening the emerging pipeline
Beyond the immediate headline-makers, the scholarship program is helping build the next wave of Australian talent.
Up‑and‑comers Alana Subasic (2024 & 2025 awardee), Hayden Jones (2024 & 2025 awardee), Hugh Winter (2024 awardee), and Lily Taylor (2024 awardee) all expanded their international experience.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (2022 & 2023 awardee), Blake Ellis (2023 awardee), Derek Pham (2023 awardee), and Ivana Popovic (2023 awardee) continued their steady progression through more regular pro‑level competition.
Rounding out the group, Edward Winter (2022 awardee), Jeremy Jin (2022 awardee), Jacob Bradshaw (2025 awardee), and Matthew Dellavedova (2025 awardee) strengthened their foundations through ITF events around the world.
Award news
Meet the deserving Ashley Cooper Scholarship recipients over the years.
About Ashley Cooper, AO
Ashley Cooper was a legend of the sport both on and off the court. Playing in the golden era of Australian men’s tennis, Cooper was a serve-and volley player who won eight Grand Slam titles including the Australian, Wimbledon and US singles titles in 1958.
After a short professional career, Cooper returned to Brisbane, where he had a successful business career and then served Tennis Queensland and Tennis Australia as an administrator. During his tenure as TQ president, he oversaw the creation of the world-class Queensland Tennis Centre, including Pat Rafter Arena.
Throughout his life Cooper was honoured with the Order of Australia, International and Australian Tennis Halls of Fame and Queensland Sports Hall of Fame.
Ashley Cooper passed away in May 2020 aged 83.
Match record
Singles champion
- Australian 1957, 1958
- United States 1958
- Wimbledon 1958
Doubles champion
- Australian 1958
- French 1957, 1958
- United States 1957
Davis Cup
- 1957-58
In his own words
Ashley Cooper reflects on his life in tennis, from his earliest hitting sessions in Victoria to his rise as a champion. Raised by tennis‑loving parents, he practised daily, even striking a ball hung from the veranda, building the technique and discipline that would define his career. Though his backhand was once considered a weakness, Cooper turned it into one of his greatest strengths, complementing the powerful serve for which he became known.
At just 17, he joined his first Australian team in 1954 alongside fellow juniors such as Lew Hoad and Neale Fraser, gaining invaluable experience under the guidance of coach Harry Hopman. Cooper fondly recalls his rivalry and enduring friendship with Fraser: intense competitors on the court, close companions off it.
The video also touches on Cooper’s marriage to Helen, Miss Australia, an event that famously drew a crowd of thousands.
After his playing career, Cooper became a key figure in Queensland tennis administration. As president, he played a central role in developing what is now one of the world’s leading tennis centres, ensuring the state’s strong tennis tradition continued.
Cooper’s reflections make clear that tennis shaped every part of his life, during his competitive years and long after he retired from the game.
A life in pictures
Ashley Cooper
Ashley Cooper winning Wimbledon
John Fitzgerald and Ashley Cooper in conversation
Ashley Cooper was honoured at the 2017 Legends lunch at the Grand Hyatt during the 2017 Australian Open.
John Fitzgerald, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ashley Cooper and Neale Fraser Ashley Cooper was honoured at the 2017 Legends lunch at the Grand Hyatt during the 2017 Australian Open.
Ashley and Helen Cooper
- Young Ashley Cooper
- Winning Winbledon
- In conversation
- Honoring Ashley
- Ashley and friends
- Helen and Ashley
2025 scholarship recipients
Alana Subasic, Qld
Highest WTA singles ranking: No.532
Australian Open 2026: Qualifying first round
Subasic won her first two professional singles titles in 2025 in back-to-back W15 events in Kayseri, Turkey. She also claimed one of the W15 doubles titles in Kayseri with Maria Herazo.
Hayden Jones, Qld
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.929
A former junior world No.11, Jones cracked the top 1000 and received a wildcard into qualifying for the Australian Open in 2025. Alongside sister Emerson Jones, he made his Grand Slam debut in mixed doubles at AO 2025.
A practice partner for Carlos Alcaraz at AO 2026, Hayden has committed to playing college tennis at the University of Illinois.
Jacob Bradshaw, Qld
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.479
Bradshaw collected his second career ITF title at the M15 Monastir event in Tunisia in 2025. In 2026, he contested Brisbane International qualifying to start the season and reached the second round of qualifying in Adelaide.
Matthew Dellavedova, Vic
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.334
Australian Open 2026: Qualifying first round
Dellavedova found his feet in the second half of 2025 with a runner-up appearance at the M25 event in Tamworth, a quarterfinal at M25 Perth and semifinal at M25 Brisbane following five straight quarterfinals at M25 events in Asia.
Dellavedova took part in the inaugural AO 1 Point Slam during the Australian Open's Opening Week, where matches were decided by a single point.
Taylah Preston, WA
Highest WTA singles ranking: No.134
Australian Open 2026: Second round
Preston has showed strong form in singles to start 2026, reaching her maiden WTA semifinal in Hobart following a win over former US Open champion Emma Raducanu before her first Grand Slam match win at AO 2026.
In 2025, she won three W35 singles titles in Wagga Wagga, Darwin and Brisbane and her first WTA 125 doubles title in Cancun with Maya Joint.
2024 scholarship recipients
Alana Subasic, QLD and Hayden Jones, QLD also received the scholarship in 2025.
Hugh Winter, SA
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.753
Winter is a sophomore at Pepperdine University in California where he has established himself as an effective doubles specialist and earning All-WCC Doubles First Team honours.
He has competed in 27 dual matches in doubles and also appeared in nine dual matches in singles. Over the season, he posted a 7–5 record in doubles and a 3–1 record in singles, highlighting a strong start to his collegiate tennis career.
Lily Taylor, SA
Taylor is a sophomore at Arizona State University, Arizona where she earned All-Big 12 Second Team honours in doubles with Patricija Spaka and picked up Big 12 Player of the Week honours in her first two years. She holds career records of 17–14 in singles and 21–14 in doubles.
In her freshman season, she captured the W15 San Diego doubles title with fellow Aussie Lily Fairclough and was a finalist at another W15 event in San Diego.
Talia Gibson, WA
Highest WTA singles ranking: No.105
Australian Open 2026 women's singles: Second round
Australian Open 2026 women's doubles: Quarterfinals with fellow Aussie Kimberly Birrell
Gibson continues her rapid ascent towards the WTA top 100, including an Australian Open main draw first-round win over Anna Blinkova before she fell to world No.22 Diana Shnaider in the second round having held match points.
Gibson has capitalised on the momentum over the Australian summer, winning the W75 event in Brisbane in February 2026.
Tristan Schoolkate, WA
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.95
Australian Open 2026: First round
Schoolkate strengthened his ATP trajectory through 2025, finishing the season inside the ATP top 100 for the first time, following a season that earned him his maiden Newcombe Medal nomination.
The 24-year-old rose from world No.168 after winning 44 matches in 2025. He reached the second round at the Australian Open – where he took a set off eventual champion Jannik Sinner – and the US Open and secured two ATP Challenger titles in Brisbane and Ilkley, United Kingdom.
In February 2026, he reached the final of an ATP Challenger event in Brisbane.
2023 scholarship recipients
Taylah Preston also received the scholarship in 2025 and 2022.
Adam Walton, Qld
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.74
Australian Open 2026: First round
Walton’s standout result of 2025 came with a run to the fourth round of the Miami Masters, which helped him steadily climb up the rankings from world No.91 in January to No.78 by December.
His biggest career win came at the Cincinnati Masters, where he stormed back from a set down to topple former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev.
Walton played college tennis at the University of Tennessee for five years from 2017 and left with an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and a graduate degree in Management and Human Resources.
Blake Ellis, Qld
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.271
Australian Open 2026: Qualifying first round
In his fourth ITF singles final of 2024 – the seventh of his career – Ellis broke through for his first title in Brisbane.
That season, Ellis claimed eight doubles titles, including four at ATP Challenger level.
His feats earned him a wildcard into the Australian Open qualifying singles draw in 2025, where he reached the final round, while in doubles, he and fellow Aussie Thomas Fancutt made the AO 2025 main draw but fell in the opening round.
Ellis contested Australian Open qualifying for the fourth time in 2026.
Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz, SA
Highest WTA singles ranking: No.760
Australian Open 2026: Qualifying first round
Kempenaers-Pocz is a sophomore at the University of Texas, contributing strong results in both singles and doubles. In the 2024–25 season, she posted a 7–5 singles record and an 11–5 doubles mark.
A former top‑35 ITF junior, Kempenaers-Pocz arrived at Texas having competed in multiple junior Grand Slams. She reached the semifinals of Australian Open 2022 juniors singles and doubles and earned three ITF junior singles and two doubles titles.
Dane Sweeny, Qld
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.131
Australian Open 2026: Second round
Sweeny grabbed headlines at Australian Open 2025 when he outlasted Gael Monfils in a four‑set thriller and closed the book on the French star’s 20‑year AO career.
In 2025, he went on a tear at ITF level, winning eight of 11 singles final including seven straight from July to September. His ranking jump, from world No. 320 to No. 133, reflects a player rapidly on the rise.
In February 2026, Sweeny claimed his first ATP Challenger title over compatriot Tristan Schoolkate in Brisbane.
Derek Pham, WA
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.786
Pham has continued to elevate his game after making his Grand Slam qualifying debut at Australian Open 2023, the same year in which he reached his best ranking of world No.786.
A runner-up at an M15 event in New Zealand in 2022, Pham also reached finals at M15 events in the United States in 2023 and in Brisbane in 2025.
In his sophomore season at Oklahoma State University in 2025, he tied for a team‑high 12 singles wins and earned ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition for the second straight year.
Ivana Popovic, NSW
Highest WTA singles ranking: No.354
Popovic reached her highest singles ranking of world No.354 in 2020 and No.250 in doubles a year later.
She reached her first ITF singles final in New Zealand in 2023 where she fell to compatriot Talia Gibson and owns two ITF doubles titles.
Petra Hule, SA
Highest WTA singles ranking: No.287
Hule rediscovered her form with consistent results across the Australian Pro Tour in 2025, which included her first WTA 125 doubles title in Canberra alongside Jaimee Fourlis.
Hule reached her career-best doubles rankings of No.119 in June 2025 and world No.287 in singles in 2024.
2022 scholarship recipients
Adam Walton, Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz, Petra Hule and Taylah Preston also received the scholarship in 2023.
Edward Winter, SA
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.454
Australian Open 2026: Qualifying first round
Winter, a junior at Pepperdine University, delivered his strongest season yet in 2024–25, earning All‑WCC First Team honours in both singles and doubles.
The South Australian reached the 2022 Adelaide International 1 doubles quarterfinals alongside Aleksandar Vukic in his ATP debut and a week later beat former world No.6 Gilles Simon in the opening round of Australian Open qualifying.
That year he also won his first ITF event in Traralgon over Tristan Schoolkate.
Winter contested Australian Open qualifying for the fifth straight year in 2026.
Jeremy Jin, Qld
Highest ATP singles ranking: No.694
A junior at the University of Florida, Jin has established himself as one of the Southeastern Conference’s most consistent performers.
Jin broke through early in his college career by playing No.1 singles throughout his freshman SEC season.
Jin, who contested Australian Open qualifying in 2023 and 2024, reached an M15 semifinal in Brisbane in 2025.
