Wheelchair tennis is set to mark a new chapter, and Australia’s own Jin Woodman is front and centre as he prepares to compete at the Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters when it is staged for the first time at the prestigious Orange Bowl event in Florida.
Woodman has been coined as a next-gen star of Australian wheelchair tennis, the 16-year-old shooting through the world rankings to No.7 for Quad Singles, and No.2 in the Junior Singles ITF ranks, alongside other Aussie players including Benjamin Wenzel and Paralympic gold medallist Heath Davidson.
Following an exceptional 2025 season in which he added a further four singles titles to his name, bringing his total up to 11, Woodman will be playing at the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters, a competition that has been the springboard for many noteworthy players’ careers, including Alfie Hewett, Tokito Oda, Diede de Groot, and Niels Vink.
READ: “We’ve come so far”: Davidson on the evolution of wheelchair tennis
The tournament runs from 11-14 December 2025 as the season-ending championship for the best junior wheelchair tennis players in the world. This year marks the first time the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters will be hosted at the Orange Bowl International Championships.
“It’s fantastic to be playing in the first wheelchair Orange Bowl because I’ve heard of Orange Bowl before just for the able-bodied,” said Woodman. “But it’s nice of them to be adding in the wheelchair as well. It means a lot to us, not just for me but other wheelies around the world playing that one event to represent each country and take out the trophy.”
The Orange Bowl has a decorated history of launching young tennis stars into the limelight, with a star-studded hall of fame featuring the likes of Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and more recently Coco Gauff.
On the upcoming competition, Woodman said, “I’m very excited [and] also nervous because I haven’t played much juniors this year due to playing seniors, but if the best of the best are coming, obviously I’ve got to play my A-game, try and win each match, hopefully come to the finals and end on a good note for 2025.”
The Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters plays a key role in the development of junior wheelchair tennis. Building on that legacy, the ITF sees the move to the Orange Bowl to further evolve the junior wheelchair division and provide the best possible experience for players.
“It’s not a completely different game,” said Woodman on wheelchair tennis. “It’s just we have wheelchairs where they have feet.”