6 August 2018 | Tennis Australia

Tennis Australia has announced the 14-and-under boys team set to compete at the prestigious ITF World Junior Tennis Finals at TK Plus Centre in Prostejov, Czech Republic starting today from 6 to 11 August 2018.

Alec Braund (Maryborough, Qld), Amor Jasika (Greenvale, Vic) and Edward Winter (Glenelg, SA), captained by Tennis Australia’s WA National Performance Manager Tom George earned their spot in the finals after a strong performance at the Asia / Oceania qualifying event held in March.The Australian team will face fierce competition from 15 of the world’s top 14-and-under junior tennis nations including reigning champions Switzerland alongside Argentina, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Spain, Thailand and USA.

The competition format begins with an early round-robin stage with the respective top two nations from each pool being selected for knock out quarterfinals to determine the World Junior Tennis champions.

Australian team captain Tom George said the boys were looking forward to competing in the finals of an international event.

“The team have been busy training for the World Junior Tennis finals. We’ve been in Europe for the last month and the team have experienced some solid match practice while competing on the European Junior Tour,” George said.

“Having the opportunity to compete internationally is a good stepping stone for junior athletes and I’m hoping the boys can gain a lot from the experience.

“We’ve drawn a pretty tough round robin group with Canada, France and Switzerland all in our pool but I am confident the boys can rise to the challenge and give it their all.”

The Aussies will take on fifth seeds Canada in the first round robin matchup before facing top seeds France and reigning champions Switzerland to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

World Junior Tennis – Australian 14-and-under boys’ team

Alec Braund (Qld)

Amor Jasika (Vic)

Edward Winter (SA)

Hitting partner – Jett Leong (NT)

Captain – Tom George (WA)

Notable 2018 Australian tournament results

Alec Braund

14-years-old from Maryborough, Queensland

• Winner – Darwin Junior Titles, 14/u Boys singles (July 2018)
• Finalist – Darwin Junior Titles, 16/u Boys singles (July 2018)
• Finalist – NT Junior Championships, 14/u Boys singles (July 2018)
• Winner w/ Derek Pham – Australian Grasscourt Championships, 14/u Boys doubles

Amor Jasika

14-years-old from Greenvale, Victoria

• Winner – BreakPoint Analysis Gold JT, 14/u Boys singles and doubles
• Winner – 2018 85th MCC Glen Iris Underage Gold JT, 14/u Boys singles and doubles

Edward Winter

14-years-old from Glenelg, South Australia

• Winner – 2018 Peake Gardens Gold JT, 16/u Boys singles and doubles
• Winner – 2018 Seaside April Gold JT, 14/u Boys singles and doubles
• Finalist – 2018 14s Australian Grasscourt Championships, 14/u Boys singles
• Winner – 2018 Henley South Gold JT, 14/u Boys singles

The ITF World Junior Tennis tournament is the premier international team competition for players aged 14-and-under. The competition has helped launch the careers of former world No.1s including Australia’s own Lleyton Hewitt,  Rafael Nadal (ESP), Novak Djokovic (SRB),  Kim Clijsters (BEL) and Justine Henin (BEL), who all participated in the event as juniors. For more information visit the ITF Junior Tennis website here.