When Noah Schachter was 2 years old, his father, David Schachter, threw a whiffle ball to the youngster.

To his father's amazement, Noah was able to hit the ball with a bat.

"I thought it was really weird that a child that young could hit the ball with a bat," David Schachter, a cardiologist, and retired colonel, said. "Later, we bought him a junior tennis racquet, and I took him to the racquetball court so he could hit the ball against the wall."

At age 4, he started formal tennis lessons, and at age 5, he played in his first tournament. Six years later, Noah Schachter is the highest rated 10-year-old in the country. He is rated 37th in the country in the 12 and under category, (the earliest age a child is officially rated by the U.S. Tennis Association) making him the highest rated player in the country for his age, Mark Hanson, Noah's head coach, explained.

"When Noah came out, there was no one even close to him in the 10-year-old category," said Hanson, the director of tennis at the Tacoma Lawn and Tennis Club. "There is no one in the country that is as good as Noah is for his age ... maybe even in the world. It is such a blessing to get to work with Noah every Sunday.  It's like getting to open a new present every week."

During his private lessons with Hanson, he keeps it fun, he said.  "His parents allow me to make it fun for Noah," he said. "But he only has fun when I push him."

Hanson attributed the Charles Wright student's athletic abilities to the way he has learned to play the game.

"Noah is an aggressive, all-court tennis player," Hanson said. "His ability to understand strategy is amazing.  His technique is good, but he plays tennis like chess.  He always thinks about the next move. I think he's the next number one player in the world.  He certainly has the heart to do it."

So what does it take to make a world class player?  In Noah's case, it takes about four hours a week of practice that includes group lessons and private lessons with Hanson, a lot of traveling, and sacrifice.  His mother, Anne Champeaux, a pathologist, left the military as a lieutenant colonel, after 13 years, and went to part-time at Madigan Army Medical Center, so she could accommodate her son's tennis tournament schedule.

"Last summer we went to Portland, Europe, North Carolina, Tuscon, Arkansas, and back to Portland," she said. "We also travel to tournaments during the year.  I went to part time work, so I could go to the tournaments with him."

Playing tennis also takes discipline, Noah said. He has to walk the dogs around the Steilacoom neighborhood where he lives before practice, keep up with his homework, and be able to carry his own equipment.

On a recent afternoon, after a workout with Hanson, he chatted about his tennis career.  He plays basketball, soccer, and baseball, but tennis is his favorite sport, he explained. His room is filled with more than 60 tennis trophies, and six tennis rackets, and two huge posters of tennis players, he said.

Why does he like tennis the best?  That question was easy for him to answer.

"Tennis is fun!" he said as a wide grin spread across his face. "I like to figure out the opponent's game style, and use it to my advantage.  But I don't like the part where you lose."

As for the future, his coach and parents chose not to predict, but Noah wasn't shy about disclosing his dream.

"If I can, I want to skip high school and college, and go straight to the pros," he said, as he kicked his feet back and forth. "I just have to practice."