A long-awaited win in Warrnambool

The talented and dedicated Mitch Burman has turned his dreams into reality, taking out the men’s singles title at the prestigious Warrnambool Open recently.

Mitch, a first-year Diploma of Tertiary Studies (DoTS) student at Monash University’s Berwick campus, said winning the Warrnambool Open title has always been a goal of his.

“The Warrnambool Open is what is known as an Australian Money Tournament, and is slightly more prestigious than other events due to the fact there is a limited number of grass court tournaments throughout the year,” Mitch said.

“I have been playing competitive tennis tournaments since I was 11 and rose up through junior rankings until I started playing these Australian Money Tournaments at 16 years old. I have competed in many of these events over the last few years but winning Warrnambool is by far the best result I’ve had.”

Mitch, who lives in-residence at the Berwick campus, is part of Monash University’s Enhanced Elite Athlete Program, set up by Monash Professorial Fellow and retired Australian tennis player Professor Paul McNamee.

“The training program Paul McNamee has set up allows me to slightly monitor my study load so I can include a daily two-hour training session,” Mitch said.

“On top of this structured training with Paul, any spare time I have is allocated to hitting with other players and spending time training in the gym.”

Professor McNamee said Mitch’s win brings back many memories for him, as he won the Warrnambool Open at a similar age in 1975.

“Mitch’s victory at Warrnambool is a reward for his hard work, and is a confidence boost for the year ahead. It’s also a fantastic start for Monash University’s pilot Elite Tennis program, overseen by Technical Director Russell Barlow,” Professor McNamee said.

Mitch has also been accepted in to the Monash University Elite Athlete Program, which is designed to assist students combine elite sport with an academic workload.

“The next step for me is to play the Futures Pro Tour circuit. I will spend the next couple of months focussing on my training and my study, as I am aiming to travel and compete in Europe for the second half of 2013,” Mitch said.