Reynolds Seeking To Make A Greater Racket On Court

Finn Reynolds arrived at the Australian Tennis Open in Melbourne a month ago with little expectation of success in the doubles.  His original partner withdrew because of injury and Reynolds had singles commitments.

Reynolds’ meeting with Portuguese player Durate Vale soon changed the Kiwi's priorities. An instant chemistry was forged as the unseeded pair made a giant killing run into the final.

"I met Durate three days before the tournament and we got on really well. He is a really good player and our styles complement each other. When my original partner withdrew I was lucky to meet someone so talented and likeable," Reynolds acclaims.

Reynolds became the first New Zealand male since Steve Downs and James Greenhalgh, who won the Wimbledon juniors in 1993, to make a junior grand slam final.

Unfortunately Reynolds and Vale fell to Yu Hsiou Hsu of Chinese Taipei  and Lingxi Zhao of China in the decider but the match was a cliff-hanger settled in a third set tiebreaker.

"They were an experienced pair and played really solid tennis. We got a bit lucky in winning the first set 10-8 in a tiebreak. They didn't make any errors after that and we made a couple of small ones and that was the difference," Reynolds recalls.

In the semi-finals Reynolds and Vale eliminated top seeds Toru Horie and Yibing Wu from Japan and in the first round accounted for third seeds Corentin Moutet and Ergi Kirkin from France.

"It's the best tennis I have played. I felt really good throughout the tournament and was lucky to have such a good partner. It's a great start to the year," Reynolds says.

This coming week Auckland based Reynolds departs for tournaments in Thailand and Malaysia. If Reynolds can score some victories and boost his ranking into the top 60 in the world he has a chance to qualify for the remaining three Grand Slams in 2017.

"My goal is to make the other three Slams which aren’t that far away. To get exposure at those tournaments would be huge for my game," Reynolds admits.

Reynolds has been playing tennis as long as he can remember. His parents are actively involved in the sport. His first major success was finishing third at the Under-11 Nationals and being named in the New Zealand Under-12 team that toured Australia.

Last year Reynolds spent five months in Europe and a month in Asia training and playing to push his combined under-18 world ranking into the top 100 in the world.

Reynolds is grateful for the support New Zealand tennis provides and could be a Grand Slam regular very soon. 
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P.S. Reynolds initially completed his schooling at Napier BHS and Rangitoto College before switching to online study.

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