But the 13-year-old is also one of top five players in NSW. 

He has been travelling to play in regional tournaments on a weekly basis and taking on some of the country’s best. 

“I’ve been playing others that are ranked and I am around the top five in the state,” Alexander said. 

His grading isn’t official yet, but he’s confident of making the grade. 

The youngster has also been playing in the local Bega competition and alongside high school friends in the school ran tournaments. 

“Last week I represented the South Coast in Newcastle and were three other kids from Bega High there too,” Alexander said. 

Of six boys in the squad, Bega High accounted for half, with Alexander joined by Blake Dowling and Scott Galeano. 

Meanwhile, talented youngster Nikki Tarlinton represented Bega in the girls’ team. 

Proud dad, David, said the strong level of competition and the size of the Bega club was a boost for Alexander. 

“The local competition is very strong and he is riding on the back of that,” David said. 

“He’s got three or four mates that play very well and they get the whole teenage rivalry thing going and push him to another level.”

Alexander agreed, saying that regular social meets see the young guys “pushing each other to play better and harder”.

Alexander also enjoys the freedom to play any one  of about 80 juniors involved in the Bega competition and relishes the chance to play seniors. 

“Yeah I am pretty keen to be able to play seniors as well,” he said with a laugh. 

Bega has one of the strongest contingents of juniors in the state, while squash has been on the decline in other areas. 

“I can’t pick out any club in particular, but there are areas that have two really strong players and maybe 10 others, but that is their whole junior division.”

With his meteoric rise through the ranks in the past year, Alexander has sought to improve his skills and has been having training sessions with talented Bega player Troy Northey. 

There is a number of coaching and training clinic opportunities for players in Sydney, but Alexander said he felt fortunate to have the one-on-one training opportunity locally. 

Now, he’s looking at the next level with state titles to be played this weekend. 

“They will pick the top two from each age group in NSW to be part of the state team that goes to Cairns in October and takes on all the other states,” Alexander said. 

“I’ll just be trying to push to beat players I haven’t before to qualify for that.”

If he is successful there, it’s possible for the Bega junior to qualify for the Australian international side. 

Each year there is a Trans-Tasman side to play in tournaments with teams from New Zealand, but sometimes there is teams selected to tour Malaysia. 

“I would like to keep getting better and try to get to the next level, I’ll definitely just push and see where I can make it,” Alexander said.