Border tennis rising Ella Brown features in NSW Foundation Cup win

The 13-year-old Albury product has started 2019 in impressive fashion, earning selection for the NSW Foundation Cup side which won the title at Kooyong earlier in the month.

Brown also reached the quarter-finals of both the Margaret Court Cup and Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships on the Border – narrowly falling to top seed Isabella Markovski on both occasions.

Margaret Court Tennis Academy head coach Phil Shanahan said Brown is currently the region’s leading female junior.

“Two boys and two girls were picked to play for NSW (for the Foundation Cup), so she has to be really proud of that achievement in itself,” Shanahan said.

“They played against all the other states.

“It’s great opportunity to be up against some of the best kids in the nation.

“Something like that can make you come back and work harder to get the next opportunity.

“She’s had great results the past 12 months which helped with selection.

“She travelled to Forster and won the 13 and under singles at the NSW Country Championships in July.

“It’s all a learning experience and that drives her to hopefully want to one day walk onto centre court at the Australian Open.”

Shanahan admitted the biggest improvement in Brown’s game during this run of success has been her work ethic.

“She’s on the court six days a week, she’s willing to learn and she enjoys the sport, which is the most important thing,” he said.

“She loves challenging herself and she’s a pretty bright kid.

“The main thing to work on in the next 12 months is the consistency of performance, that’s probably the number one goal.

“Obviously getting her body right and working on her speed and agility are some of the main things.”

Brown has had good form across all surfaces, but has taken her tennis up another notch on grass.

“I guess the beauty of having great grass courts here is it teaches her to come forward and volley,” Shanahan said.

“She’s playing in our men’s section two pennant competition here in Albury and very few female players have done that in the past.

“That’s giving her another opportunity to be able to face stronger players and men that play a bit differently.

“Through that hard work, the opportunities will keep presenting themselves.”