Andrew Painter’s remarkable tennis journey has taken him from the tiny Australian state of Tasmania to a Wimbledon showdown with Andre Agassi. Since joining the Lakes Tennis Academy in 2002, “Paints” has put his years of experience as an Association of Tennis Professionals tour player to excellent use as Director of Elite Programming.

The Painter story begins in Sydney, Australia, where Andrew was born in 1975. Soon afterward, his family moved to the exotic state of Tasmania, off Australia’s southern coast, where Andrew took up tennis at age 5. Steeped in the world-class tradition of Aussie legends like Laver, Roche and Newcombe, Andrew excelled at the sport. He gained national attention as a junior, earning four consecutive No. 1 rankings in his age division in Tasmania and winning the Tasmanian Men’s Open at age 14 - youngest ever to achieve that feat.

Andrew’s accomplishments propelled him to the national stage in 1992, when he became one of 10 young athletes in Australia awarded scholarships to attend the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. His peers and practice partners included such rising tennis stars as Patrick Rafter and Mark Philipoussis. Paints spent four years at the institute, playing national junior tournaments and competing abroad in International Tennis Federation junior events.

Andrew began his professional career by playing ITF Futures and Satellite tournaments as a teenager. In 1995, Paints took his big groundstrokes and booming serve to England, where he won three rounds in Wimbledon qualifying and earned a spot in the main draw of the world’s most prestigious professional tennis tournament. Paints drew top-seeded Andre Agassi as his first-round opponent. On June 26, 1995, the young man from Tasmania walked onto Wimbledon’s Centre Court alongside the world’s top-ranked player. Andrew acquitted himself well in defeat, serving 19 aces against the game’s greatest returner.

Paints traveled on the ATP tour from 1994-2002, competing in Challengers and main tour events and earning a spot in 10 grand slam championships. He won several Challenger titles in doubles and was runner-up in the 2000 ATP Tour event on clay in Casablanca, Morocco, losing a hard-fought final to French stars Arnaud Clement and Sebastien Grosjean. Andrew reached a career high ATP doubles ranking of 119 and a singles ranking of 492. His tour highlights included doubles wins over the Bryan brothers and a singles victory over Mike Bryan.

Since retiring from the professional circuit and launching his career as a junior development coach at the Lakes Tennis Academy in 2002, Paints has found little time for tournaments. But in 2005, he drew on his competitive passion and world-class experience to win the gold ball at the USTA National Men’s 30’s Clay Court Championships in Florida. He captured a silver ball with fellow Lakes professional Philip Farmer in doubles.

These days, Paints devotes long hours to coaching, educating, and mentoring Lakes Tennis Academy juniors to fulfill their potential on the tennis court and in life. In August 2006, he coached the Texas Tennis Association’s Team Texas Aggies to a 5-0 record and first-place finish in the USTA Boys and Girls 12s Zone Team Championships in Omaha, Nebraska.

Source: Lakes Tennis Academy