Tristan Schoolkate yearns for more after parlaying a Tennis Australia wildcard into a life-changing first-round US Open triumph at Flushing Meadows.
Six years after turning to GoFundMe to play the Wimbledon juniors, Schoolkate will depart New York with a minimum $US140,000 ($A207,000) for fighting back from two sets down to secure his maiden grand slam match win.
“It’s massive, first of all, to have the opportunity to play,” the 23-year-old said while savouring his 4-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 comeback victory on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) over Japan’s Taro Daniel.
“Obviously I’m grateful for that and to go one step further, hopefully I can continue on.”
Rather than splash out, the Perth battler promised to reinvest his Open prize money in his tennis future.
“I started on my own and when I turned 18 and was playing in the junior events, I had to do the GoFundMe page just to help pay for things,” Schoolkate said.
“My family doesn’t come from a lot of money and I never made anything in juniors.
“And obviously coming into the pros, this is by far the biggest cheque I’ve received.
“Hopefully I keep continuing on and hopefully it gets bigger and bigger, but it all goes back into your tennis.
“It looks like a big number on the prize money cheque, but you’ve got plenty of expenses on the road.
“This is obviously great and it’ll help propel me forwards with coaching, physical training, travel, flights, all those things.”
Schoolkate is provisionally slated to rise to a career-high 164th in the rankings – and much higher if he can upset Czech world No.65 Jakub Mensik and reach the last 32.
“I can draw a lot of confidence out of this,” he said.
“Obviously from a standpoint that I came back from two sets love down.
“It’s probably one of my highest wins by ranking.
“So I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m one of the lowest-ranked guys in the draw, so I can take it as it comes and I’ll give it my best.”
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au