Hi, my name is Nick Watkins. I am the Head Coach of the High Performance Tennis Academy (HPTA) on the Gold Coast, Australia.

 

I have had the privilege of playing the great game of Tennis from the age of five years old and have continued to play throughout my life. I have been coaching for more than 30 years and am honoured to be the Head Coach at HPTA. I have spent years, and continue to study all aspects of the game and get great satisfaction out of not only helping players of all ages and standards, but also helping them build confidence and self esteem with skills they will have for life.

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I have developed many successful elite players that have reached State, National and International levels. At the age of ten, Samantha Stosur and her family came to me with dreams of her one day competing on the WTA Tour. For ten years I spent 48 weeks a year, five days a week working with Sam developing her skills so she could become a tennis professional and fulfil those dreams. At the age of 19 Sam was overseas for 35 weeks a year playing as a professional. Sam has since gone on to achieve a singles ranking of four in the world and also number one in the world for doubles in which she held for two years. She has won a combined total of 33 singles and doubles WTA titles, which included the 2011 US Open title where she defeated Serena Williams in the final. Sam was also runner up in singles at the French Open in 2010. 

 

In November 2018 Sam asked me to help her with her game & coach her through the 2019 Australian Open summer. Because I had coached Sam from the age of 10 to 19 & have had a strong relationship with her ever since. I thought i could really help her at the end of her AMAZING career. With only 4 weeks training before the Brisbane international Sam had played very good singles that summer in Brisbane,  Sydney & the AO. Sam also won the AO Ladies doubles title that year with her regular partner Shuai Zhang. Working with Sam, Shuai & her coach Robert was a great experience. Considering they were not seeded & also defeated the top 2 ranked teams in the world in the semi final & final, it was a great result for the 4 of us. 

 

Mitch Walden (HPTA Coach) and I are now currently working with an up and coming elite player named Moerani Bouzige. We started coaching Moerani at the age of 13, and while he still trains with us, he is now playing on the ATP Challenger circuit. He has played in two Junior Australian Open events which allows the top 64 juniors in the world to compete. He is now working hard to achieve an ATP ranking. 

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I enjoy introducing new people of all ages and standards into our club to play the game of tennis and to also make life long friends. I would love to see you at our club in the near future.

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Nick Watkins

 

HPTA Head Coach