ACCORDING to his father, 13–year–old Harry Dudley started playing wheelchair tennis about 18 months ago.

Now he's 33 in the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) Junior Boy's Wheelchair Tennis rankings.

"I enjoy rallying, and mainly just the whole thing," he said.

"Long term I would like to play in one of the Olympics."

Harry's newfound passion for the sport has seen him compete in Canberra and Sydney, and he is currently working towards a pair of ITF–rated tournaments in January – the Victorian Wheelchair Tennis Open and the Melbourne Wheelchair Open.

Harry said he is training twice a week in Albury–Wodonga but also does some fitness work during the week as well.

He is also a member of the Bright Tennis Club and working on his upper body strength so he can manoeuvre around the court faster, as well as improving his racquet technique.

"With tennis I'm just trying to practise my serves, topspin – just hitting the winners," he said.

Harry said he looks up to Australian wheelchair tennis star Dylan Alcott, as well as Alcott's doubles partner Heath Davidson, for their tennis prowess and their advocacy for people with disabilities.

He likes playing singles tennis, preferring the single–minded focus on his opponent than the added complexity of working with a doubles partner.

"At the moment I'm just focused on the opponent," he said.

"With doubles I'm focusing on my partner as well – like who's hitting the ball and we don't want to run into each other trying to get the same ball.

"With singles I focus on just me."

Harry's father, Luke Dudley, said he is happy to see him so passionate about wheelchair tennis.

"I'm super proud of him," he said.

"He's given it a lot and it's been really nice to see him committed to something and put in a lot of effort, and hopefully he'll start seeing rewards from it in the future.

"Him playing, enjoying being competitive and all of those things – it's just great to see."