Melbourne, Australia, 14 December 2022 | Darren Parkin

Rain continues to impact the December Showdown at Melbourne Park this week.

With a backlog of matches to play, many of the round-robin matches in the 12/u Australian Invitational Masters singles competition today were shortened to four-game sets.

This meant the on-court action was fast paced and brilliant.

In the girls’ singles competition, top seed Vesna Marinkov overcame a slow start to record a strong 2-6 6-0 6-4 victory over Pavitar Pansi.

Hailing from New South Wales, Marinkov is delighted to be competing at Melbourne Park.

“I love this place, it’s awesome,” she said.

“These courts and the whole centre are so great. I love being here, especially so close to the Australian Open.”

She may only be young, but Marinkov is already drawing on the deeds of champions when she finds herself in times of trouble on court.

“I’d love to play like Novak (Djokovic),” Marinkov said.

“He always finds a way to turn things around, and I think I did that today, so he’s a big inspiration for me.”

> VIEW: Draws and results from the 12 and under Australian Invitational Masters

Queensland’s Ceressa Jackson also produced a hard-fought win and is enjoying the challenge of competing for a national title.

“It’s a good experience to be around players who are about the same level as you,” she said. “And just to basically experience more.”

Tournament organisers are hoping to complete all round-robin matches today, with knock-out quarterfinals scheduled to begin from tomorrow.

12 and under Australian Invitational Masters

TODAY’S RESULTS
Girls’ singles, round robin
[1] Vesna Marinkov (NSW) d [7] Pavitar Pansi (NSW) 2-6 6-0 6-4
[2] Emilie Chen (NSW) d [8] Angel Warang (NSW) 2-6 6-4 6-3
[2] Emilie Chen (NSW) d Valenova Tsai (Qld) 4-0 4-2
[3] Valentyna Rosa (NSW) d Mia Slatina (NSW) 2-4 4-1 4-2
[4] Aimee Jin (NSW) d [6] Tori Russell (Qld) 1-4 4-0 4-1
[4] Aimee Jin (NSW) d Sophia Gregg (NSW) 4-0 4-2
Pauline Ma (Vic) d [5] Elise Virr (Qld) 4-2 4-2
Ceressa Jackson (Qld) d Suri Suchovsky (NSW) 6-3 4-6 6-3
Sophia Gregg (NSW) d Claudia Shearwood (WA) 4-2 4-1
Valenova Tsai (Qld) d Jovana Novakovic (WA) 6-3 4-6 6-3

Boys’ singles, round robin
[1] Har Abir Sekhon (NSW) d Haydon Fa (Vic) 5-3 4-2
[2] Raphael Savelli (Vic) d Elroi Chiripamberi (WA) 4-0 4-2
[3] Sehun Park (WA) d [5] Jake Tyson Spurrell (Qld) 4-1 4-1
[4] Jenson Yokota-Ho (Vic) d Boaz Fong (NSW) 4-0 4-1
[8] Joel Roney (Vic) d Lachlan Rye (Qld) 4-1 4-1
Alec Tasovac (WA) d [6] Arkin Amin-Patel (Qld) 4-2 1-4 4-0
Oliver Hancin (Vic) d [7] Tommy Camus (ACT) 4-1 5-3
Roman Filipovic (Vic) d Jonathan Shao (NSW) 5-4(5) 4-1

STILL TO PLAY
Girls’ singles, round robin
[1] Vesna Marinkov (NSW) v Suri Suchovsky (NSW)
[7] Pavitar Pansi (NSW) v Ceressa Jackson (Qld)
[8] Angel Warang (NSW) v Jovana Novakovic (WA)

> 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!