Melbourne, Australia, 9 December 2022 | Darren Parkin

Some of Australia’s finest young talent has been on display at the December Showdown at Melbourne Park this week.

Ava Beck continued her outstanding run in the 14/u Australian Invitational Masters, scoring a come-from-behind win over top seed Diana Badalyan in the girls’ singles semifinals.

The 14-year-old Victorian dropped the first set, controlled the second and raced to a 4-0 lead in the third.

Badalyan showed her class to fight back, but Beck eventually prevailed 2-6 6-2 6-4 in two hours and 12 minutes.

“I struggled at the start, but when she took a medical timeout at the end of the first set it really gave me a chance to just focus in and think only about the second set,” Beck said.

“I knew that Diana would come back at the end, so I just took a heap of deep breaths and tried to ignore everything else.”

Her final opponent is Western Australia’s Sara Nikolic, who reeled off eight consecutive games to win 6-4 6-0 in her semifinal against New South Wales’ Natalie Gaft.

> View draws and results from the 14/u Australian Invitational Masters

Daniel Jovanovski is having a week to remember, progressing to finals across three events.

The 14-year-old Victorian moved into the boys’ singles final today via a 6-2 6-3 win over top seed Cooper Kose.

Jovanovski then returned later in the day to claim the mixed doubles title alongside Badalyan.

The top-seeded duo defeated New South Wales’ Chen Liang and Victorian Eva Trinity Crawford 6-4 6-1 in the final.

Jovanovski, who has also qualified for the boys’ doubles final, now turns his attention to a showdown with Nemanja Savic in tomorrow’s boys’ singles decider.

Savic played fantastic to score a 6-2 7-5 victory against second seed Cameron Burton in semifinal action today.

Savic’s emotion on the final point was evidence of what this moment means.

“I’m very excited, I’ve never been into a nationals final before,” said Savic. “You have to stay mentally strong against a good player like Cam and I love that this tournament teaches you that you can’t fall off at all.

“It’s so different to normal tournaments because it’s tougher physically and mentally.”

Savic finished with a clear message: “All I know is I’m ready to win.”

14/u Australian Invitational Masters

TODAY’S RESULTS
Boys’ singles, semifinals
[5] Nemanja Savic (WA) d [2] Cameron Burton (WA) 6-2 7-5
[3] Daniel Jovanovski (Vic) d [1] Cooper Kose (Vic) 6-3 6-2

Girls’ singles, semifinals
[5] Ava Beck (Vic) d [1] Diana Badalyan (SA) 2-6 6-2 6-4
[2] Sara Nikolic (WA) d [4] Natalie Gaft (NSW) 6-4 6-0

Mixed doubles, final
[1] Diana Badalyan (SA)/Daniel Jovanovski (Vic) d Chen Liang (NSW)/Eva Trinity Crawford (Vic) 6-4 6-1

COMING UP
Boys’ singles, final
[5] Nemanja Savic (WA) v [3] Daniel Jovanovski (Vic)

Girls’ singles, final
[5] Ava Beck (Vic) v [2] Sara Nikolic (WA)

Boys’ doubles, final
[1] Cameron Burton (WA)/Daniel Jovanovski (Vic) v Ari Lewis-Kelly (SA)/Jeffrey Strydom (SA)

Girls’ doubles, final
Sarah Mildren (SA)/Kalina Stefanov (SA) v Gina Cha (Qld)/Scarlett Dattoli (Vic)

> View live scores from the December Showdown

The December Showdown, with more than 150 of Australia’s most promising junior athletes competing for national titles, continues at Melbourne Park until 17 December. Entry is free for spectators.

Book online, play today: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!