Josh Ward-Oirbert: from the junior grand slam champion to the trophy-racker basketball

Strait friendships were formed while Ward-Hibbert traveled around the world playing tennis and in 2012 he reached his peak while collaborating with Liam Broady to win the Australian double junior title.

Ward-Oirbert became a professional and won a title for singles and 13 double titles on the ITF Futures circuit, of which five with Broady and four with Lloyd Glasspool, another which is now a regular one on the main double ATP circuit.

But he fought to progress beyond, and and 22 years old he decided to move away from the life of the tour to go to Loughborough University to promote his education.

“There were some things that happened in my personal life and I had some injury that continued to resort and I was not leaving as I wanted,” he said.

“Everything has just been combined to put me at a turning point.

“Tennis is a super-flow sport, physically and mentally. I always travel, live constantly out of a suitcase.

“It doesn’t matter where it is, you have to live it. It’s difficult, it’s a lifestyle, 45, 50 weeks a year.”

But Ward-Oirbert would not be without his tennis career.

“It is an extraordinary sport. There were so many maximums, it taught me as much as a person, and the type of person I am today is of the journey I had.

“I am definitely happy to have made that journey. It would not be negligent not to say that I would like to have arrived in the number one world, but it was not on my path.

“I have to win a Grand Slam with one of my closest friends still today. It is a memory that I will never forget.”