Brisbane, Australia, 11 November 2022 | Leigh Rogers
Zachary Viiala is one of Australia’s most promising junior athletes.
After undergoing hip surgery earlier this year, the 17-year-old from Perth has made a promising return. Viiala won an ITF junior title at Adelaide in September without losing a set and has recently been competing on the ITF World Junior Tour in Asia.
In our series profiling Tennis Australia’s National Tennis Academy athletes, the unassuming Viiala reveals discipline is his biggest strength …
Can you tell us about your start in tennis?
I think I started when I was about four years old. One of my friends wanted to start playing and he asked me to play with him and it sort of took off from there. I really enjoyed it.
Where did you start playing?
At my local club in Perth, a place called Onslow Park Tennis Club.
What do you enjoy most about tennis?
I like the individuality. I like being by myself on the court and relying on myself to win. There’s lots of different aspects in tennis and I want to perfect all of them.
Who is your favourite player to watch?
Roger Federer has always been my favourite. He’s just nice to watch and he is so humble off the court as well.
Is there an Australian player that’s really inspired you?
I wouldn’t say there is one in particular. I know James Duckworth the best, he was around (in Brisbane) while he was injured. We had the same injury this year, so we bonded over that a bit. He is a good guy as well.
To have a player who has been ranked inside the top 50 help you recover from hip surgery must have been pretty special?
Yeah. He was always like ‘just shout out if you need anything or want to chat about the process of it’. And it was kind of good to see the exercises that he was doing.
After being sidelined for eight months, how did it feel to return to competition?
I wasn’t too nervous. It had been reasonably boring and pretty repetitive for a few months. I don’t play tennis to train, I play to compete, so I was ready to get back out there.
Did you learn much about yourself while injured?
I guess everyone’s going to get injured at some stage and it’s all a learning curve. I feel like I’ve learned a few different things, but nothing too outstanding. I feel like I’ve always been reasonably disciplined within myself, and I think that sort of showed.
Zachary Viiala. Picture: Tennis Australia
Who have been the biggest influences in your career so far?
There has…
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