Ashleigh Simes had barely unpacked her bags when she walked onto court at Weston Creek Tennis Club. “I didn’t get back that long ago. I finished college in America in May. And then I stayed there for a couple of months just to work a little bit.”
From there, she travelled through Europe, training and competing across Portugal, North Macedonia and Spain before returning home to Canberra. One day later, she entered the ACT leg of the AO 1 Point Slam.
At 22, Simes is the only female player to qualify for the quick draw shootout in Melbourne on 14 January from the eight-pool State and Territory champions.
“This is where I think the one point comes in where anything can happen,” she says.
Born in Newcastle and raised in Canberra from the age of four, Simes grew up in a household where both parents worked as nurses. Her father, Toby, played tennis socially and introduced her to the sport when she was five or six, taking her along to Wednesday night social tennis.
She found one of his racquets in the garage and, as she puts it, “started swinging it around”. Her first tournament came at nine or ten, and she never really stopped. Simes learned the game on the synthetic grass courts at Weston Creek, her local club, which will receive $5,000 following her success in winning the ACT leg of the AO 1 Point Slam. She also trained at the Canberra Tennis Centre in Lyneham alongside the ACT’s leading juniors, eventually being named ACT Player of the Year in both 2024 and 2025.
Her AO 1 Point Slam journey unfolded quickly.
“I won the first point, won the second point, and then I played the final and got lucky in that one as well.” At Weston Creek, she won both games of rock, paper, scissors and chose to serve. The state finals were different.
“I got a bye first round, which was pretty lucky. And then I played a friend of mine who coached me when I was 10. I got lucky with that. I was feeling very nervous for the last point. I just got lucky with that one as well.”
Luck may have been on her side, or more likely the format freed her from over-analysing, and she swung at the ball without fear.
“My attitude was just ‘go out and have fun’. I was obviously nervous, but I say I got lucky because I didn’t really have any strategy. I was just like, ‘oh, I just have to swing at the ball and try to relax’.”
“Normally when I play, I’m thinking strategy, do this and do that. This time I thought, ‘just relax and don’t think about it’.”
“At the state finals, I lost both of the Rock Paper Scissors, and they both chose to serve both times, so I had to return both times there.”
A product of the ACT player pathway, Simes spent three and a half years on scholarship at Lee University in Tennessee, graduating with a degree in Business Management.
“It was amazing. It was hard the first couple of weeks because it was a completely new place. I went over there at the end of COVID and didn’t know anyone.
“But when I settled in – I was among a group of girls and a coach who pushed me to be a better person and to be part of a team. It was really special. It was like a family away from home.”
Now, she’s transitioning from college tennis to something more demanding and will compete on the ITF circuit starting in February.
“I’m transitioning from college to wanting to play more seriously. After this 1 Point Slam, I’m hoping to train full-time and go on the ITF circuit.
“I know it’s very hard but that would be the goal,” she says of her professional tennis aspirations. Simes sees tennis as part of her future, regardless of whether she makes it as a top player.
“I would love to do something that helps people get included in tennis and just work within the sport,” she says.
On court, she is known as a risk-taker, a trait that suits the AO 1 Point Slam perfectly.
“In this scenario, I think it can be a bit of a strength. I’m always told that I go out there and I look like I’m always having fun on court. I always laugh when I miss a ball.”
She draws inspiration from players who combine creativity with courage.
“I always loved the way that [Ash Barty] played. It was such a perfect game,” she says.
“I think Aryna Sabalenka is a really strong and fierce competitor and basically goes at it with no fear.”
If given the choice, her dream opponent in Melbourne would be Iga Swiatek.
“She would be awesome to play, just because I really like her game as well, and it would be cool to be on the same court as Iga and play a point against her.”
Her mother will be there to watch, another constant in a career shaped by family support. And if the impossible happens and Ashleigh takes home the one million dollars?
“I would give some of it to my family because they have been a massive support in my life,” she pledges without hesitation. “I would put it towards playing and then probably try and save it and reinvest it.”
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