Adam Walton, 27, has been named to Australia's Davis Cup squad for its tie against Poland, to be held on Saturday and Sunday at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, and was awarded his gold Davis Cup jacket by captain Lleyton Hewitt as the 118th player to represent Australia. Walton, the world number 93, has spent the week training in Brisbane for the tie and will next head to China for the Hangzhou Open.
Adam Walton named to Australia's Davis Cup squad for Poland tie in Brisbane
Adam Walton, 27, has been named to Australia's Davis Cup squad for its tie against Poland, to be held on Saturday and Sunday at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, and was awarded his gold Davis Cup jacket by captain Lleyton Hewitt as the 118th player to represent Australia. Walton, the world number 93, has spent the week training in Brisbane for the tie and will next head to China for the Hangzhou Open.
Walton grew up in the small North Queensland town of Home Hill, about 1,200 kilometres north of Brisbane, where he and his older brother Jack, 15 months his senior, played rugby league, swimming and eventually tennis. He picked up a racquet at the age of five and trained with his brother on the tennis court tucked inside the local race track, where the pair would wait for the horses to pass before crossing the course to the courts.
"My brother is 15 months older than me; we were very competitive growing up. It wasn't just tennis; it would be any sport. We even 'scissors, paper, rock' for the dishes," Walton said. "Everything we did when we were growing up, we turned into a competition."
Rather than enter the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors, which the source describes as the conventional pathway to professional tennis, Walton waited until after university to turn pro, studying and playing at the University of Tennessee in the United States. "As a little kid, I didn't really dream of becoming a tennis player. I was never a top Australian junior; I never travelled to the junior slams," said Walton, who said he was speaking ahead of the French Open this year. "I would have been no good at 18, trying to play professional tennis," he said. "I've always been a bit of a late bloomer; I needed to grow up physically and mentally. Once I finished university, I was definitely ready."
In two years Walton cracked the world's top 100 in ATP singles rankings, according to the source. It states he has beaten former world number one Daniil Medvedev in five sets at the French Open, won five singles titles and four doubles titles on the Challenger Tour, and most recently earned a call-up to the Australian Davis Cup team.
- The source does not state the calendar dates of the Davis Cup tie beyond Saturday and Sunday, nor the session times.
- The source does not state whether Walton will be selected to play in the tie, or which other players are in Australia's or Poland's squads.
- The body text does not give a year for Walton's French Open win over Daniil Medvedev, while a photo caption supplied with the article refers to the 2026 French Open.
- The source does not state the date on which Walton's ranking of world number 93 was current.
- The source does not state the format, round or stage of the Davis Cup tie against Poland.
- The source does not state Jack Walton's current involvement in tennis or whether he will attend the tie.
Read the original at ABC News Australia