Brandon
Walkin
Former professional tennis player. Coach, researcher and writer.
I've spent my career in professional tennis from three angles: competing for Great Britain, coaching on the ATP Tour, and researching how athletes tell their own stories. Based in Melbourne.
Player
Represented Great Britain on the professional tour. Retired in 2026.
PlayingCoach
Former head coach on the ATP Tour, now coaching private players in Melbourne.
CoachingResearcher
Honours research on athlete-authored media and journalistic standards in tennis.
ResearchWriter
First-person writing on life inside professional tennis.
WritingAbout
I'm Brandon Walkin, a former professional tennis player, now a coach, researcher and writer based in Melbourne.
I competed for Great Britain, coached at every level from school programs to the ATP Tour, and now study how athletes tell their own stories. I also write about the parts of professional tennis that never make the highlights.
Playing
Represented Great Britain, with a career-high world ranking of 204.
- Nation
- Great Britain (GBR)
- Career high
- 204
- Status
- Retired, October 2026
- Plays
- Right-handed
- Profile
- ATP Tour profile
After time away from the tour, my 2026 comeback brought three finals and two semi-finals in a six-tournament run. I retired in October 2026, and now bring that experience to coaching, research and writing.
Coaching
Private coaching in Melbourne from a coach who has worked at ATP Tour level.
I've coached at every level, from school programs to the ATP Tour. Every session is built around your game: what's working, what's holding you back, and the next step.
Experience
- Head coach to ATP player Thanasi Kokkinakis, 2024 to 2026
- Head coach, Ipswich Grammar School, 2020 to 2022
- Former professional player for Great Britain
Who it's for
- Juniors who want a pathway into competitive tennis
- Adults who compete or want to start
- Players stepping up to ITF and professional events
- Qualification
- Tennis Australia Level 1, completing at the end of 2026
Lessons and packages
Single lesson
$150One private lesson
5 lessons
$650$130 per lesson
Save $100
10 lessons
$1,200$120 per lesson
Save $300
Research
My research asks what happens to journalistic standards when athletes publish their own stories.
- Status
- Applied for PhD scholarships for 2027 and awaiting outcomes
Honours thesis
Walkin, B 2026, Whose story is it? Athlete-authored media and journalistic standards in professional tennis, Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland.
The study compares 131 texts across three tiers: journalist-authored pieces, editorially assisted athlete-authored pieces, and raw athlete social media. Each is coded on 24 variables against four journalistic standards. It draws on Bruns's theories of produsage and gatewatching, and Hall's encoding/decoding model.
Recognition: Award for academic excellence, University of Southern Queensland.
Next
Beyond the Byline: Athlete-Authored Media, Journalistic Standards, and Audience Reception in Professional Tennis. This proposed doctoral project extends the Honours work into how audiences read athlete-authored media, through longitudinal content analysis and interviews with people inside the sport.
Research interests
- Athlete-authored media and athlete voice
- Sports journalism and its standards
- Audience reception of sports media
- Tennis media and the professional game
Writing
Writing from inside professional tennis, for readers who want more than the scoreline.
Coming January 2027
My first-person column on life as an ATP coach, for CODE Sports.
Contact
For coaching, media, writing commissions or research collaboration, get in touch below. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
- brandonwalkin@gmail.com
- @brandonwalkinn
- Brandon Walkin
- Based
- Melbourne, Australia