Rex Hedrick: 2022 Year In Review

As we come to the end of 2022, we have taken the time to speak to some of the Tour’s stars of the year. Our focus in today’s piece is Australian Rex Hedrick.

Hedrick returned to the Tour after a couple of years away in 2021, and since then, he has shown his class once more on the Australian circuit.

The Aussie won three events on home soil over the course of the last twelve months, including winning the North Coast Open in both the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. He also added the Volkswagen Bega Open title, and Hedrick now has 19 Tour victories to his name.

Hedrick started the year as the World No.348, exactly 300 places off his career-best, which came in September 2018. Following a stellar year, the Australian now sits at World No.77, rising more than 270 places over the last twelve months.

Rex Hedrick

World Ranking – January: World No.348
World Ranking – December: World No.77 (year-best of World No.74 in November)
Titles Won: 3
– Roberts & Morrow North Coast Open (Challenger 10 level)
– Victoria Open (5)
– Costa North Coast Open (10)

See what Hedrick had to say about his stellar 2022 here…

“Yeah, it was good. I think still at that point in time it was, it was mainly only really Australian players that could play in the tournament [Roberts & Morrow North Coast Open]. So I guess it probably didn’t quite feel like a proper PSA international tournament just yet, but it was still so good to turn up there and play well and have a win.

“And as you said, get it off on a on a good foot, because I’d let my ranking kind of drop off completely. So yeah, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but yeah, it helped me back up a bit quicker.

“Now, I kind of decided in the 2019 that I was going to stop, and stop playing PSA and professional squash, but the following year COVID rolled around and I actually wasn’t allowed to work, so I didn’t really have much else to do.

“So I just started training again and our lockdown in Melbourne lasted a couple of years, so it was only kind of a couple of months after that lockdown finished that those tournaments were coming up and I just thought I was feeling pretty fit again and the body is feeling good. So, so why not kind of jump back in and do a few tournaments again?

On the COVID restrictions and time during lockdown in Melbourne…

“There’s probably a group of five of us that had an exemption to try and because we were PSA registered. Yeah, you probably noticed a couple of new players from Melbourne pop up on the PSA in that period of time so they could get a letter, jump on court.

“So yeah, I mean I work at a squash centre and I kind of help manage the centre I had the keys to the building and allowed to say that I was allowed to be there so anyone else who had that letter was allowed to kind of come in and train and we just did a bit of group training throughout the days to keep us occupied and sane.

On the second North Coast Open win in 2022…

“Yeah, that was, that was way different. I was kind of playing guys top 60, top 70 again, which was a bit of a shock to the system because hadn’t played that level for at least two and a half, three years.

“Yeah, I think I handled it okay, but I really struggled through it. Like, I think I had a pretty brutal quarter final with Henry Leung. And from that point on, I was pretty sore. Pretty tired for the rest of the tournament.

“And I think those courts kind of suit me. I kind of like the lengthy matches and it’s quite bouncy and hot up in Coffs [Harbour, where the event was held], so even though I was maybe feeling a bit sore each day, the ball was quite lively, so it kept me in the rallies a bit longer. Which, which suited me I think.

“It was, it was a strange one. You don’t really know what to expect, that you can kind of feel what level you’re playing and training. And I felt like I was still thereabouts, which is kind of the level that I was playing before I stopped, which, which is about like, you know, 60, 70 in the world mark.

“But yeah, winning that just kind of validated that. I hadn’t really lost too much. I guess I was still kind of maintaining that level.

On being crowned Australian National Champion again…

“I had a couple of times before, but it’s sometimes it depends who shows up. It’s lucky for me that Zac Alexander and stuff aren’t there at the time because yeah, I’m not sure I’d win it if all of those boys were around, but I’ll take it while it’s there.

On the Nations Cup, the new format and facing old pal Paul Coll…

“I thought it was good fun, I mean, I kind of more went with the approach of having a bit of fun with it. Yeah, but once you’re on that, it does get quite serious, quite quick. But I thought the scoring was cool actually. I thought the power plays were a good idea. The rallies jumped up in intensity.

“For me the highlight was playing against Paul [Coll]. I hadn’t played him for years and years, but we used to play heaps back in the day. So yeah, to jump back on with him when he’s now, you know, World No.2 was, was pretty cool to have another round with him.

“It’s a little bit of everything but I mean, I think that way back probably ten plus years ago, and if I kept a bit of pressure on him, he would be able to like, lose his head a bit and tin out, get frustrated but his mental [fortitude] now is unbelievable.

“He just stays at that steady kind of focus, a positive state of mind. And with that, he’s become so much more accurate and less error prone, short game has improved heaps. Like I felt in that match, just in the Nations Cup, he squeezed a few loose balls out of me where I would have backed myself to maybe pick up the next ball in the past.

“But he was actually just finishing the ball so well, keeping it so short and it was just the quality was up. So full credit to him to go from, because I think we were kind of neck and neck for quite a while and I’m a couple of years older but not that much older and I probably thought we were tracking very similarly and then he just, he just took his game to another level and then took it up again.

“And yeah, heaps of respect for what he was able to do there, he didn’t just burst onto the scene, like he just kept his head down and kept working at it and kept making the right choices and moving himself into places that was good for his squash. He just he just found a way, basically. 

“Which, again, is another thing that people from this side of the world can learn that you might not be, you know, top 16, top 30 in the World Juniors or whatever. But if you keep showing up and doing the right thing and training hard, you might get there in the end.

On getting into the New Zealand Open a week later…

“I was out, I was actually first reserve, so I didn’t actually know I was going to be playing. I was playing the Nations Cup and then I got the call up. I just had to delay my travel time for a couple more days.

“Again, it kind of felt like a free swing and a free hit, and I drew Greg Lobban. And to be fair, he just kind of outplayed me on the day and then, yeah, I was pretty happy to get home and take a few days off.

“I thought I probably could have had a bit more of an impact and get into the game. Well, I think we’re pretty even up to five or six in most games and then he played a few good rallies at that important time to go 8-6, 9-6 up. And then that game kind of felt gone.

“But it kind of happened three times in a row which yeah… I mean credit to him for playing those big points better than I did. But in hindsight, yeah, I wish I had stuck in a little bit longer at maybe on seven or eight or nine or rather than falling away a little bit at that crucial stage of the game.

On looking ahead to the next year…

“Yeah, to be honest, I think I’ll still stay pretty local. I mean, I’m 34 now and I’m kind of just doing it because I can. It’s a bit of fun, but I don’t really feel the need to chase those big events anymore and trek off for 2-3 weeks at a time.

“Like I work full time and I think if I can sneak away for three or four days here and there and play a Challenger 10 event pretty close by, I’m normally pretty happy to do that, but it’s a whole other level to start chasing those Platinum’s and really try to push that kind of ranking in full time touring.

On training whilst working a full-time job, and what the future holds…

“I think like normally I can get up and do a session before work. So I just, take a session at 7:00 in the morning or so and then I’m kind of flexible with my start time. So it just depends when I book lessons in for the day and as you said, if time permits, and this year I’ve been trying to fit in that second session occasionally like in the afternoon.

“Like the work kind of comes first at the moment, and if I can fit in training and tournaments around, then I’ll do it. But yeah, it seems like already it’s getting harder and harder again.

“Like fresh out of COVID. I was kind of like, ‘Yeah, let’s take it all on again’. Maybe I need to step back again. We’ll see how we go. I think maybe six months to a year more and then I’m definitely pretty keen to hang up the racket I think.

On having the Australian Open back on Tour…

“Yeah, it’s awesome. I mean you’d ask any kind of player in Australia and they’re all really crying out for it for years. And I think now we’re closer to having an even bigger event.

“I think it was a Challenger 30 event in the end, but I think they were looking at Bronze or even a Platinum and I think it’s in pipeline for the coming years, which I think it’ll be huge for the area, attract those players, get a massive buzz around it.

“And I think both Squash Australia and PSA are trying to kind of collaborate and work together to make sure it happens and yeah, I think it’d be a really positive thing if it did because so much of the sport can sometimes struggle a little bit in Australia at the moment for participation.

“But if we can get it in the media and get these big events and showcase it somewhere with the glass court outside where a lot of people will see it and walk past it, it’ll go a long way.

“And there’s a couple of guys like someone like Joseph White just outside the top hundred. He’s overseas quite a bit and you can see the benefits that it’s having for his game. Every time he comes back, he’s playing a bit better.

“But yeah, I think that exposure, yeah, it’s important. But either way I think if you turn it, if you’re trying to go pro in squash in Australia, you’ll have to move overseas eventually anyway.

“One tournament’s not going to kind of do it for you, but I think it might just help trigger a bit more participation if you get those bigger events and as I said in the media, I think is crucial because it’s just so many sport options here in Australia. These kids, they’ve got the choice of 30, 40 different sports to play and squash sometimes doesn’t get a look in.”

Check out the full interview with Rex on our YouTube channel here ⬇️