Naomi Osaka's agency signs 15-year-old Australian tennis player Cooper Kose

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) Cooper Kose is an Australian tennis player who turned 15 two weeks ago, has braces on his teeth and has big plans in mind. He was a hitting partner for Coco Gauff and others at the Australian Open and signed on the eve of Wimbledon with the agency co-founded by Naomi Osaka.

Osaka, a four-time major champion and former No. 1 player whose group also represents 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios and Anna Kalinskaya, practiced with Kose in Los Angeles at UCLA in April.

I thought Cooper was a very good player. He reminds me a bit of Nick just from the way he swings his forehand. And then I asked him who his favorite player was, and it was Nick, so it made sense, Osaka said on Sunday at the All England Club, where the third Grand Slam tournament of the year starts on Monday. It will be cool to see him grow.

And make no mistake: Kose is still growing. He said he wears a size 14 shoe and is already 6’1,” which is about 6 feet 10 inches, and doctors have told him there’s more to come. That size helps him generate power on serves that both he and 2023 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Chris Eubanks, who hit with Kose in Australia in January, say reach 125 mph, and forehands that form the foundation of a game that Kose calls pretty complete . to be fair.

He's like a raw, uncut gemstone, with a lot of belief in himself, said Stuart Duguid, Osaka's longtime agent who co-founded the management group EVOLVE with her two years ago. “Our theory was that if he can pull it off, he'll be the type of player we want to represent.

Duguid explained that he is a talented athlete who has the potential to transcend tennis.

When we come to Grand Slams, you can tell those who have some magic and can impact lives beyond those around us. It’s still a long way to go, but it seemed like he had the chance to do so, said Duguid, who added that EVOLVE is also bringing on board another teenager, Yi Zhou, a 19-year-old from China.

“I hope he doesn't mind me saying it, but Cooper reminded us a lot of The Big Guy,” Duguid said, nodding toward Kyrgios, who worked as a TV commentator while sidelined after wrist surgery and made a promotional appearance near the All England Club.

Kose said in a telephone interview from Gold Coast, Australia, that he was first taught to play tennis at a young age by his grandfather, who passed away last year. Kose said his mother and grandparents ran an indoor tennis facility in Melbourne, and he was told the first time he held a racket in his hand was when he was 18 months old.

He has never played in a junior Grand Slam event and may not. He is keen to start racking up ATP ranking points and see how he can do against older players, hoping to improve his net play while learning as much as he can about the sport and life on tour.

My ultimate goal is to become No. 1 in the world and win multiple Grand Slams and basically be a good role model for up and coming kids, Kose said. And try to make a name for myself.

When asked about meeting Osaka and interacting with her, Kose recalled with a laugh: She couldn't really believe my level. She was a little shocked at how old I was, like almost everyone else I meet.

Eubanks was also among those who responded this way.

I was really, really impressed. He hits the ball very well. He seems to love the game. So I liked him. What a nice boy, Eubanks said. He's young, but he has an incredible game. When I found out he was (14) it was a big shock. We play full grassroots games from the ground, and he holds his own.

Duguid first heard about Kose when Gauff's coach, Brad Gilbert, mentioned the Australian during a TV broadcast from Melbourne Park. That eventually led to Duguid and Osaka meeting Kose in LA.

Kyrgios' manager Daniel Horsfall will look after Kose's career.

When I first spoke to Cooper, a lot of the things he said and the way he explained things to me reminded me a lot of Nick when we were growing up together, Horsfall said.

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Howard Fendrich has been APs tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich

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