Livvy Devonport has capped off a stellar 2025 season by taking out her hometown event the Gold Coast Open.
The Bond University Bachelor of Psychology student didn’t drop a set on the way to her 10th tournament victory for the year.
She’ll now focus on the upcoming final exams for her Bachelor’s degree before returning to Bond in 2026 to undertake an Honours.
But first she’ll head off to Melbourne for the Summer of Tennis, a series of step-up events that many touring professionals use to prepare for the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in mid January.
The 20-year-old intends to use these events as a launch pad for her first foray into the professional ranks.
After competing her Honours degree in August, she will head to Europe for the ITF circuit.
"That is women’s professional level, so it will be a big step up for me,” she said.
“Grand slam players compete at these events, so it will give me more regular opportunities to test myself against professional players.
“I’ll spend every spare minute until I graduate fine tuning my game, in the gym building my strength and working on my fitness so I’m in the best possible condition to perform well over there."
For now, she can return to the books content with her form on the Queensland circuit which also included victories at the Beenleigh Open and Caloundra Open and the one she really wanted here on the Gold Coast where she grew up.
“I won every single match 2–0, I didn’t drop a single set,” Devonport said.
“I played well and I’m really happy.”
For Devonport, whether applying the lessons from her psychology degree on court or learning from experienced players, growth is a constant.
At UniSport Nationals, Devonport faced a stacked field of competitors featuring highly credentialed athletes including Australian Fed Cup player Alexandra Begovich and former junior world number one Laura Walker.
“The girls I lost to at UniSport nationals were all grand slam players. I learnt so much from their experience and what I need to do to take my tennis to the next level,” she said.
“They all spoke to me after the match and gave me advice.
“Even though I was happy with my performances at nationals, it’s crucial to take something away from losses and actually apply it to the future.”
Fellow Bull Shark Alec Braund also impressed on the court taking out the KDV Sport Open Men’s Doubles with partner Matthew Curtis.
The duo won the grand final match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Devenport and Braund are the captains of Bond’s high-performance squad which is made up of elite student athletes including Alice Sasso, Kyra Vamsikrish, Ava Cowley, Marissa Jones, Andrew Ngo, Leonardo Modica, Gav Tan, Matt Lee, Michael Chrisp, and Yifan Wang.