Melbourne Park, 17 December 2010 | Tim Rose

Siblings Andrew and Samantha Harris have claimed both the boys’ and girls’ Optus 16s Singles Championships today, with back-to-back wins over seeded players at Melbourne Park.

The Harris’s day out meant that a second generation of the family had won the title, with mother Anne Minter claiming the Optus 16s in 1978–79 on her way to a stellar professional career.

Both players have battled injury throughout the year and entered the Championships unseeded, yet each tore through the draw, knocking out unseeded players before dominant performances in the final.

First up on court, Andrew came up against third seed Nicholas Kyrgios, who impressed during the Optus 18s last week, where he made the quarterfinals as a wildcard.

Both players began with some brilliant groundstrokes, with Kyrgios pushing ahead in the first set on the back of some good serving and his big forehand. With the two matching each other in rallies, Harris conceded double faults at crucial times, giving up two breaks of serve to a pumped up Kyrgios, who took the first set in no time.

The second set saw Harris’ classical one-handed backhand come to the fore, striking crisp winners at will. A backhand winner sealed the double break and not long after he drew level, taking the set in front of a home crowd.

Riding a wave of momentum, Harris broke early in the decider, consistently attacking Kyrgios’ on both sides. He saved a break point with a stunning forehand crosscourt pass and followed it up with another backhand winner to maintain his advantage.

Fittingly, he claimed the title with one of the shots of the day, a sublime backhand pass.

“I’m stoked. I came through as a wildcard, anything could have happened,” he said after the 2-6 6-2 6-2 win in front of his home Victorian crowd.

“It was great. I had all the national academy coaches out supporting me, my family and some family friends came along. It’s a great feeling.”

Harris recently spent 15 months off the court with stress fractures in his back, only making his return to tennis late in the year. He reeled off three consecutive ITF titles, success that saw his confidence reach “sky high”.

“I made that big investment, and all that hard work is starting to pay off,” he said, before cheering on his little sister.

After Andrew’s win, it was left to Samantha to complete a memorable day for the family, with the whole Harris cohort courtside barracking her on.

Also unseeded for the tournament, Samantha had brushed past fourth seed Storm Sanders and sixth seed Stefani Stojic on the way to meeting second seed Abbie Myers in the final. Despite her brother’s success and the possibility of a dream result for the family, Myers deserved to be regarded as the favourite as a Junior Fed Cup team member.

Conceding 18 months in age and a considerable height difference, Samantha matched the more experienced Myers for groundstrokes, with the now familiar Harris’ one-handed backhand in full flight.

The opening set saw five breaks of serve, with Harris each time gaining the break before conceding her serve to a determined Myers.

After breaking at 6-5, she was able to cling onto her service game and take a one set to love lead.

As both players continued to struggle on serve, it was a Myers double fault that gave Harris another opening, which she took with both hands. Another break of serve followed, and not long after, the younger Harris joined her brother as a national champion.

“I didn’t exactly expect to win the tournament this week, I’ve still got next year in [this age group].”

“I was happy for [Andrew], and I was hoping I could do the same,” said Samantha, who turns 15 on Sunday.

Of her one-handed backhand, which mother Anne also possessed, she suggested it was a family trait.

“I’ve always grown up with it, and so has Andrew. It runs in the family a bit,” she said.

The two now receive entry into the Australian Open 2011 Juniors tournament, which will mark each of their debuts.

When asked who the better player was, Andrew claimed to have his sister’s measure with his extra years, while Samantha seemed to doubt that idea.

What is not in doubt, however, is that the Harris household will remember this day for a long time to come.