WATCHING Lleyton Hewitt confirm Australia's thrilling passage into the Davis Cup semi-finals was all the motivation young Sam Whitehead needed to keep chasing his tennis dreams.
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No.1 in his age group in Tasmania and No. 5 nationally, the Launceston talent was the only Tasmanian selected in a junior national team to watch the tie against Kazakhstan in Darwin.
And the Australian team of Hewitt, Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Sam Groth did not disappoint him, storming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and set up a semi-final against Andy Murray's Great Britain team.
"It was really good," Sam reflected after returning to his year 7 studies at Scotch Oakburn College.
"The atmosphere was amazing and really good for tennis in Australia."
After a four-day training camp, the squad attended the official Davis Cup dinner before watching all the action which climaxed in Groth's gritty four-set defeat of top-ranked Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin before Hewitt sealed the win against Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
Sam, 12, said it was an inspirational experience to stay in the same hotel as the players and watch their preparation.
"Just being able to hang out with the players and training with the best kids of my age was really good for my development.
"Groth and Kokkinakis came to speak to us a few times. Groth told us to keep working hard and we could get up there."
Sam, who will continue training under James Bolzonello at Launceston Regional Tennis Centre before national championships in Sydney in September, said it was an honour to cheer on his country's best players.
"Hewitt has finished it off so many times and I thought he would do the same again. It was so loud after every point. Hewitt's win was just amazing."
Sam helped Scotch reach the Northern tennis final last year.