Youngtown's Campbell Young appeared to enjoy his Monday more than most.
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Stepping onto the courts of the Launceston Regional Tennis Centre, the 14-year-old was among those having their first hit since COVID-19 forced the sport to a halt.
Campbell admitted he couldn't wait to hit the ball again, taking advantage of easing restrictions.
"It feels pretty weird, I haven't played in a while so it's good to get back out," he said.
"I was very happy obviously [to find out I could play again]. It was a bit of a shock at the time but it's still good news."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
Having represented Tasmania on the national stage at Super 10s, under-12 Bruce Cup and December showdown, the St Patrick's College student wants to emulate the successes of role models Roger Federer, Ash Barty and Dominic Thiem and turn professional.
However, he knows the smaller steps need to be taken first, looking at achieving well locally in the short term, despite not knowing how the rest of the season looks.
"I'd like to win a couple of tournaments, get a few ranking points up and do well in some AMTs [Australian money tournaments] in the next few years."
Starved of tennis competition during the six-week break from the sport, Campbell and his family have been remaining competitive during the isolation period, taking on his brothers in an isolation Olympics.
Taking on brothers Fletcher, 15, and Hudson, 11, in modified activities kept the rising star busy alongside his schoolwork.
"It's been good competitiveness - it's always good to beat the family in something.
"We've just been doing all sorts of stuff around the house, like throwing balls off the deck into hoops and stuff like that, table tennis and that sort of thing."
Following in his mother, Belinda's, footsteps, Campbell got into the sport by rallying while waiting for her to complete her mid-week pennant matches and the pair are now Riverside Tennis Club's mixed doubles champions thanks to the help of club coach Jason Fletcher.
A member of several of the club's Tennis North inter-club pennant sides, he will have to wait a little longer before representing Riverside with his teammates, as the association have paused competition once again.
Completing multiple rounds of the competition before the coronavirus-enforced break kicked off on March 23, the A-grade league was set to start finals on June 15, which is now the same day organised local competitions can restart.
Announced on social media to the competition's players on Sunday night, the decision was made to cancel the league's summer roster before starting the spring league on August 3.
"Although it is disappointing that we can't complete this pennant, the good news is we can start playing at our local clubs again and get used to the "new normal" hygiene and social distancing requirements," Tennis North president Craig Boyce said.
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