Blake Mott not only looks like Lleyton Hewitt but the Thirroul young gun has the same fighting spirit and will to win on the court as his tennis idol.
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The 16-year-old will need to display these characteristics and more next week when he represents Australia in the Junior Davis Cup team in Barcelona, Spain.
Mott joins Harry Bourchier (Tasmania) and Thanasi Kokkinakis (SA) in the under-16 team coached by Mark Woodforde. They will battle Spain from September 25-30.
Speaking to the Advertiser last week while training in Germany, Mott said he was looking forward to taking on the Spaniards.
‘‘Being part of the Davis Cup environment has definitely taught me how important the team atmosphere is.
‘‘So I am really keen to ensure we have that same great team feel in our Junior Davis Cup team and I can see how critical it is to success,’’ Mott said.
He said another key to success against the tough Spanish team was for Australia to play to its potential.
‘‘Obviously the Spanish team will be tough because it is being played on clay.
‘‘Clay is probably not our favourite surface but we are certainly not afraid of it.
‘‘I am confident that we have a very talented team, a good captain who will give us the benefit of his enormous experience and I think we can get a good result.’’
Mott, who represented Australia in the under-14 World Championship team event, was the country’s number one player for his age last year.
This year, the talented teen has played more games against men, enjoying recent success at a Futures event in Vietnam where he downed the No.5 seed, a Thailand Davis Cup representative.
Mott, who has also made two doubles finals with fellow Australian Peter Luczak, said his father as well as Bulli coach Edwin Barclay had helped him tremendously.
A desire to also match the feats of two-time grand slam winner Hewitt also continued to drive Mott to enjoy similar future success.
