LOUISE Hunt hopes her early-year tour of Australia has given her the ideal platform to secure her place at a second successive Paralympics.

The 24 year old, from Wanborough, ended her trip Down Under on a victorious note, she and South Africa’s Kgothatso Montjane lifting their first title together by winning the women’s doubles at this week’s ITF 2 Series Melbourne Open.

The 2012 Paralympian completed three back-to-back tournaments on the Australian Wheelchair Tennis Summer Series as she builds towards her attempt to qualify for the Games in Rio later this year.

Second seeds Hunt and Montjane claimed three straight sets wins in three closely-contested matches in Melbourne, culminating in a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Chinese duo Hui Min Huang and Zhenzhen Zhu in the final to earn Hunt the 45th doubles title of her career.

Aiming to secure valuable world ranking points in Australia, Hunt was a doubles semi-finalist and then quarter-finalist at her first two tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney, where she partnered Germany’s Katharina Kruger.

All three tournaments featured first round wins over leading American partnership Dana Mathewson and Kaitlyn Verfuerth, including a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory at the first Super Series event of the year in Sydney, where Hunt and Kruger battled back from a set and 3-0 down to prevail.

Hunt also made early progress in two of her three singles events before her challenges came to an end against higher-ranked world top 10 opposition.

The British number three called on all her determination in her very first match of 2016, when she came from three match points down in the final set against Korean former world number seven Ju-Youn Park to wrap up a tense 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5) win in Brisbane.

“It's been a tough tour in Australia, it's such a long trip with lots of travelling which takes its toll, but I've performed well throughout the trip,” said Hunt, who completed 2015 with her first year-end world top 10 ranking.

“I had a great fight back the first week against Park, coming back from 5-1 and 40-0 down to win and that was a great mental battle that I am very proud of.

"To finish the tour with a win was great, we beat three really good pairs and to play doubles with one of my closest friends made it even better.''