DAMIAN Phillips smashed his way to the NSW State PWII and DHOH (Player with an Intellectual Disability and Deaf Hard of Hearing) tennis titles in Sydney last month.

Damian is well known for his dedication to training at the Englands Park Tennis Club at Coffs Jetty and his hard work has paid dividends.

After winning all of his pool matches Damian faced and defeated his doubles partner Luke Barker in the semi finals.

After a twenty point tie-break Damian finally broke down top seed Mitchell James from Queensland in the final to lift the trophy, winning the game 6-3, 2-6, 11-9.

Damian’s mother Leanne Phillips attributed the win to digging deep.

“Damian played some really great tennis over the weekend, he had some strong matches, in which he had to dig deep to win.

“Damian’s serving and shot selection helped him to win the match,” she said,

However, the celebrations were cut short as he returned to the court in the afternoon with his doubles partner Luke Barker.

The dynamic duo won all of their pool matches and triumphed over Queensland’s Mitchel James and Declan Hobley 6-2, 4-6, 10-5 in the final, with Damian lifting a second state title.

By David WIGLEY