Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2022 | Darren Parkin

In a successful day for young locals at Australian Open 2022, Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz and Hayden Jones have each claimed strong second-round victories.

Kempenaers-Pocz advanced to the third round of the junior girls’ event with a commanding 6-2 6-3 victory over Japan’s Sara Saito.

Kempenaers-Pocz started brilliantly as she raced to a 4-0 lead in just 13 minutes, collecting 16 of the first 20 points of the match.

She eventually took the first set 6-2 in less than half an hour, winning 91 per cent of points on her first serve.

“I was at 5-2 and had a set point, I missed, and it went to deuce. I wanted to make sure I didn’t go for it if it wasn’t there, just play natural tennis and wait for the right moment,” Kempenaers-Pocz reflected of closing out the first set.

After surrendering an early break of serve in the second set, the South Australian took control again, rattling off five of the last six games to complete an impressive victory.

Kempenaers-Pocz struck seven aces to zero and produced 18 winners to her opponent’s eight.

“I was pretty happy with how I played today,” said the 17-year-old, who was pleased with how she managed the steamy conditions.

“I went through all my shots, and I tried to use the heat to my advantage, as I’m a bit more used to it than she is.”

Kempenaers-Pocz earlier participated in Australian Open 2022 qualifying, losing a brilliant three-set battle with former US Open quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko.

The experience boosted her confidence for the junior events.

“I took some real belief from that match,” she said. “I was happy with how my level was and I thought if I can bring that out through all my matches in the junior Slams I can do well.”

There was also success for Kempenaers-Pocz and Taylah Preston in the girls’ doubles, the Australian girls combining to defeat Brazilian-Chinese Taipei duo Ana Candiotto and Li Yu-Yin in three sets.

> READ: Sanders and Dolehide storm into AO 2022 quarterfinals

Also winning through to the third round was 15-year-old Hayden Jones, who backed up his marathon win on Sunday with a dominant display this afternoon.

Having spent two hours and 21 minutes on court in the first round, Jones claimed a 6-2 6-2 win over Tanapatt Nirundorn of Thailand in just 64 minutes.

Jones dropped only nine points on serve for the entire match, collecting 29 off Nirundorn in the process, to go with 27 winners to 16.

In the day’s other singles result, Jeremy Jin’s run ended to  the second-round with a 6-4 64-6 2-6 loss to Constantinos Koshis of Cyprus.

Jin dropped the first set 6-4, with conversion of break points the major difference in a tight set.

Both players produced seven winners and 16 unforced errors in the opening set, and each of them created three break point opportunities.

But it was Koshis who took one of his chances to edge ahead, with his first serve percentage of 83 allowing him to dig himself out of the break point holes.

The second set began the same way, Jin created a break point chance in the opening return game, but he couldn’t covert and was broken himself in the very next game.

The Cypriot closed it out 6-4 6-2, committing just six second set errors compared to 15 by the Australian.

But there was success for Jin alongside Edward Winter  in the boys’ doubles, with the Australians claiming a 6-2 4-6 [13-11] victory over South Korea’s Gerard Campana Lee and Lautaro Midon of Argentina.

> READ: Ebden and Purcell power into AO 2022 quarterfinals

Australian Open 2022

TODAY’S RESULTS
Girls’ singles, second round
Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (AUS) d [WC] Sara Saito (JPN) 6-2 6-3

Boys’ singles, second round
[WC] Hayden Jones (AUS) d Tanapatt Nirundorn (THA) 6-2 6-2
Constantinos Koshis (CYP) d [WC] Jeremy Jin (AUS) 6-4 6-2

Girls’ doubles, first round
[WC] Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (AUS)/Taylah Preston (AUS) d Ana Candiotto (BRA)/Li Yu-Yin (TPE) 6-1 1-6 [10-6]
Lucie Havlickova (CZE)/Dominika Salkova (CZE) d [WC] Talia Gibson (AUS)/Elena Micic (AUS) 6-1 6-2
Chelsea Fontenel (SUI)/Qavia Lopez (USA) d [WC] Roisin Gilheany (AUS)/Zara Larke (AUS) 5-7 6-2 [10-4]

> VIEW: Australian Open 2022 girls’ doubles draw

Boys’ doubles, first round
[WC] Jeremy Jin (AUS)/Edward Winter (AUS) d [5] Gerard Campana Lee (KOR)/Lautaro Midon (ARG) 2-6 6-4 [13-11]
Luka Mikrut (CRO)/Dino Prizmic (CRO) d [WC] Hayden Jones (AUS)/Zachary Viiala (AUS) 6-3 6-4

> VIEW: Australian Open 2022 boys’ doubles draw

COMING UP
Girls’ singles, second round
Taylah Preston (AUS) v [2] Diana Shnaider (RUS)
[Q] Zara Larke (AUS) v Angela Okutoyi (KEN)

Girls’ singles, third round
Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (AUS) v Tereza Valentova (CZE)

> VIEW: Australian Open 2022 girls’ singles draw

Boys’ singles, second round
[WC] Edward Winter (AUS) v [1] Bruno Kuzuhara (USA)

Boys’ singles, third round
[WC] Hayden Jones (AUS) v [4] Jakub Mensik (CZE)  

> VIEW: Australian Open 2022 boys’ singles draw

Girls’ doubles, second round
[WC] Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (AUS)/Taylah Preston (AUS) v Virginia Ferrara (ITA)/Georgie Pedone (ITA)

Boys’ doubles, second round
[WC] Jeremy Jin (AUS)/Edward Winter (AUS) v Niccolo Ciavarella (ITA)/Daniele Minighini (ITA)

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