Tennis and autism: A Greek-Australian star at the Australian Open

Greek-Australian tennis player Andriana Petrakis from Adelaide participated in this year's Australian Open People With Ιntellectual Disability or Autism Championships. She had a meet and chat with Stefanos Tsitsipas and her tennis idol is Aussie legend Ash Barty. SBS Greek met her for a quick chat

Greek-Australian tennis player Andriana Petrakis from Adelaide / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou

South Australia’s Andriana Petrakis is one of Australia’s top tennis players with an intellectual impairment (PWII).

The Greek-Australian participated at the Australian Open 2024 PWII Championships, an event, for the world’s best players with an intellectual impairment, which was played at Melbourne Park as part of the Australian Open.

Andriana Petrakis with her mother, Soula at the 2024 Australian Open / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou

She played on the same hardcourts at Melbourne Park which hosts the Australian Open, the PWII women's singles tournament, which had eight entries.

The player began with a round-robin before moving into a knockout phase, with matches played in a best-of-three tie-break format.

SBS Greek met with Andriana at the Media Centre of the Australian Open for a short interview.