South Australian Alexander Despoja received his opening round-robin match on the 18-and-under Australian Championships at this time at Melbourne Park.
Melbourne, Australia , 4 December 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Prime seed Alexander Despoja has made a promising begin to his marketing campaign at this week’s 18-and-under Australian Championships.
The 18-year-old from South Australia recorded a 6-2 6-4 win in opposition to Victorian qualifier Michael Korobitsin in his opening boys’ singles round-robin match on the December Showdown.
“I really feel like I served fairly nicely,” Despoja mentioned after finishing his 67-minute victory at this time at Melbourne Park.
“He was a reasonably aggressive participant, however I stored my nerve all through the entire match and closed it out fairly nicely.”
Regardless of his No.1-seed standing, Despoja will not be feeling any additional strain this week.
He contested solely 5 ITF junior tournaments all through 2023, opting to prioritise his 12 months 12 research at Brisbane Boys’ School as an alternative.
This transfer has paid off for Despoja, who will relocate to Texas subsequent month to play US school tennis.
“I haven’t actually competed a lot this yr, however I’m hoping to win nationals and my final event right here in Australia,” mentioned Despoja, who plans to review enterprise whereas honing his tennis expertise in America.
He’s additional motivated to carry out strongly on the 2023 December Showdown, after recording a heart-breaking semifinal loss through the 18/u Australian Championships final yr.
“Final yr within the semifinals I had match factors, so I’ve bought unfinished enterprise right here in a manner,” he declared.
Despoja has loved December Showdown success earlier than, profitable the 14/u Australian Championships in 2019.
> FOLLOW: Dwell scores from the December Showdown
The round-robin stage of the 18/u Australian Championships continues till Wednesday, with the top-performing athletes then progressing to knock-out quarterfinals.
The boys’ and women’ singles finals might be performed on Saturday 9 December.
In addition to being topped nationwide champions, the boys’ and women’ singles winners obtain a wildcard right into a nominated Australian Professional Tour occasion subsequent yr.
Greater than 260 of Australia’s main junior athletes are competing on the 2023 December Showdown, which runs till 16 December at Melbourne Park. Entry is free for spectators wishing to attend.
> READ: Jizelle Sibai makes scorching begin in 14-and-under Australian Junior Tour Masters
18/U AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
TODAY’S RESULTS
Boys’ singles, round-robin
[1] Alexander Despoja (SA) d [Q] Michael Korobitsin (Vic) 6-2 6-4
[3] Zane Stevens (Qld) d [Q] Oliver James King (Qld) 7-6(0) 4-6 6-4
[4] Daniel Jovanovski (Vic) d Elijah Dikkenberg (ACT) 6-1 7-5
[5] Daniel Jankoski (NSW) d Nicolas Tremblay (NT) 6-4 6-1
[8] Rohan Hazratwala (Qld) d [WC] Jonas Hahn (SA) 7-6(6) 6-2
[Q] Diordan Macababbad (Vic) d [2] Cooper Errey (Vic) 6-3 6-2
Jay Fairclough (WA) d [6] Lachlan McFadzean (NSW) 6-3 6-2
Boyd Schreiber (NSW) d [7] Cruz Hewitt (NSW) 7-6(2) 7-6(7)
Women’ singles, round-robin
[1] Lily Taylor (Qld) d [Q] Susannah Su (NSW) 6-1 6-2
[2] Kimiko Cooper (NSW) d [Q] Sarah Mildren (SA) 6-4 7-5
[3] Ashlee Narker (NSW) d [Q] Amelia Zylberman (Vic) 6-2 6-2
[4] Jelena Cvijanovic (Vic) d [Q] Ashley Katz (NSW) 6-1 6-2
[5] Isabella Crossman (Vic) d Cara Korhonen (Qld) 6-4 6-3
Elim Yan (SA) d [6] Gabrielle Villegas (Vic) 7-5 4-6 7-6(3)
[WC] Bridget Mihulka (Vic) d [7] Gabby Gregg (NSW) 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5
[WC] Alice Stevens (WA) d [8] Kristina Tai (SA) 6-3 ret.
> VIEW: 18/u Australian Championships attracts
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