Bundjalung tennis player Laquisa Khan is proving that determination, culture and community can take you to the world stage – even when the odds are stacked.Born and raised in Lismore and now based on the Gold Coast, Khan first picked up a tennis racquet at just eight years old. What started as a simple hit quickly turned into a lifelong pursuit.\u201cI\u2019ve stuck to tennis ever since,\u201d she told NITV.Now ranked around 774 on the Women\u2019s Tennis Association (WTA), Khan recently achieved a major milestone after being awarded a wild card into the Adelaide International, competing against some of the world\u2019s top-ranked players.\u201cI\u2019m very grateful for my journey and how far I\u2019ve come,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy work is paying off, and that\u2019s how I got offered the wild card. I\u2019m just grateful to be playing this event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrying culture onto the court<\/p>\n
Khan has been supported by the Yvonne Goolagong Foundation since the age of 13, and says representing her mob on an international stage is something she carries with pride.\u201cIt\u2019s an honour representing my Bundjalung Nation and my people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing what Evonne Goolagong achieved, and what Ash Barty has done as well, shows it\u2019s definitely possible for any Indigenous woman like myself to achieve big dreams and big goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes, it takes daily effort to reach rankings and tournaments. Khan trains two to four hours a day on court, often followed by gym sessions – all while working early morning shifts at a caf\u00e9 and coaching tennis to help fund her career.\u201cIt\u2019s pretty full-on, but I\u2019m financially supporting myself to get around the world and compete in as many tournaments as I can.\u201dShe has travelled internationally to compete in tournaments across China and the Philippines, describing the experience as both challenging and rewarding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love travelling the world for tennis and experiencing new cultures, food and conditions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Staying grounded away from Country<\/p>\n
Like many First Nations athletes, Khan says being away from family and Country can be challenging. She stays grounded through regular contact with family and support from her team.\u201cI connect with my team a lot and check in with my family back home daily,\u201d she said. \u201cThat definitely keeps me grounded.\u201dHer family, particularly her mother, remains a strong source of support.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum is definitely proud of me and how driven and dedicated I am,\u201d Khan said.<\/p>\n
Serving up big ambitions for what lies ahead<\/p>\n
After Adelaide, Khan plans to attend Evonne Goolagong\u2019s 50-year Australian Open anniversary celebrations, before competing in four tournaments across Brisbane and Tasmania in February.Her long-term goal is clear.\u201cMy goal by the end of 2026 is to crack the top 300 and to play the Australian Open in 2027,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For now, Laquisa Khan continues to put in the work \u2014 carrying her culture, her community and the next generation of First Nations tennis players with her every time she steps onto the court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bundjalung tennis player Laquisa Khan is proving that determination, culture and community can take you to the world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-413879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}