He will be making his debut as an umpire at the Open.

"I am really looking forward to it,"

said the 20-year-old from Kellyville.

"It's my first time there, it's very exciting. To know I will be umpiring there is a great honour considering I didn't think I would last as an umpire."

Jorge has been a tennis umpire since early 2006 and has been climbing up the tennis ranks since.

"I started off as a tennis player with the Hills District Tennis Association, but I wasn't really good enough so I had to find other options," he said.

"I went to sit what I thought was a coaching course, when in fact it was an umpiring course.

"I qualified and didn't really want to go anywhere with it. I wasn't interested in it at all but then I decided to give it a go."

Starting out in local matches, Jorge then moved onto wheelchair tournaments, open division and professional tournaments.

"Tennis Officials Australia starts us out with easier matches," he said.

"In the wheelchair tournaments the pace is not as quick but it is much easier to get the hang of it.

"I was definitely nervous when I started out. When the best umpires are watching you to see how you go, it makes you feel a bit intimidated and you don't want to make a mistake.

"But I got good feedback, that was good."

Jorge quickly progressed around NSW and he attributes his success to the Tennis Officials Australia association.

His first international tournament was at the Medibank International earlier this year, umpiring the likes of champions Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer, Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova.

"I was nervous as hell," he said.

"It was so surreal watching them play. It was an awesome experience."

Although he wasn't selected for the finals game, Jorge's goal is to reach the finals at the Australian Open.

Before the Grand Slam tournament, Jorge has a busy summer ahead. This week he heads to Tasmania for an ATP Challenger event, followed by the Medibank International in January.

Want to be an umpire? Visit www.toansw.org