Our young tennis star Ethan Tulliani has been representing the club with distinction as he attempts to crack the ITF Pro Circuit in Europe. Here’s what he’s had to say on his travels to date.

Dear SSC,

I thought I would send a quick email to give you an update on my tennis progress.

I’ve played my first club tennis match in France, we had a win although it was a very close score. French Club Tennis has a few similarities to badge, particularly the comradery, however the stricture is very different. We play 2 sets of doubles and 4 sets of singles in which 8 people play over a 2 day period during the week, the biggest advantage is it enables myself and my fellow team mates to travel and play the Pro Circuit Events around Europe which are generally played over the weekends. Club Tennis is highly regarded and our clubs will fly us back if we are required to play. 

My team has a total of 11 players from all around Europe, many of  whom have an ATP ranking, so I’m not only excited but feel extremely fortunate to have been selected for this team, it has given me a great confidence boost in my tennis.

From France I have travelled to Brcko, Bosnia to play my first Pro Circuit Event. I played against a Croatian guy, Josip Smoljan, he has just returned from playing USTA and College Tennis. Unfortunately I was not successful and  lost 6-4, 6-1.  It was a good match and I felt that I played well, just a few loose errors, which enabled him the secure the games. From there I travelled to another town in Bosnia, Kiseljak. I competed in the ITF Kiseljak Open 2015 and played against Filip Fichtel. I had a tough match, losing 6-1 6-1. The weather conditions were challenging, with the temperature reaching a high of 13 degrees and surprisingly the courts being a bit slower than the previous week in Brcko. My coach and coaching team were pleased with how I competed and we are looking forward to keep building until we reach our goals we have set for this year.

I have just arrived in Bulgaria after a 33 hour bus trip from Kiseljak to Stara Zagora, where I will be competing in the upcoming Stara Zagora Cup tournament. It looks like a very strong tournament with the number 1 seed having a top 300 ATP rank and the cut for qualifying is a rank of 1000.

I will keep everyone updated about this week’s performance and my upcoming events.

warm regards,

Ethan