Melbourne, Australia, 22 November 2023 | tennis.com.au

The future stars of Australian tennis will compete for national titles at the December Showdown featuring the Australian Junior Tour Masters next month.

More than 264 of Australia’s leading juniors will converge on Melbourne Park between 2-16 December to take part in the annual event.

Lily Taylor, a National Tennis Academy athlete, headlines the 18-and-under Australian Championships girls’ singles field. The 17-year-old from Brisbane peaked at world No.42 in the ITF World Tennis Tour junior rankings during 2023.

As well the honour of claiming a national title, the winners of the 18/u Australian Championships will also receive a wildcard into nominated Australian Pro Tour events in 2024.

For competitors in the 16/u Australian Junior Tour Masters, the prize on offer for the champions is a main-draw wildcard into the Australian Open Junior Championships and an ITF J300 tournament at Traralgon in January.

The entry lists for the prestigious junior series were confirmed this week.

Wildcards have been awarded to the following players in the 18/u event:

Boys’ singles main draw: Cruz Hewitt (NSW), Jonas Hahn (SA)
Boys’ qualifying singles: Billy Williams (SA), Oscar Andrews (ACT)
Girls’ singles main draw: Alice Stevens (WA), Bridget Mihulka (Vic)
Girls’ qualifying singles: Summer Hupfeld (NSW), Juliette Debrincat (Vic)

Entries for the 16/u, 14/u and 12/u events were determined by the player’s results at Australian Junior Tour events throughout the season, with only the top-performing juniors eligible to compete for national titles.

The Australian Junior Tour encompasses 224 events, providing an opportunity for more than 33,000 athletes to compete.

For the first time, an Australian Progress Series Masters event has been added to the December Showdown schedule.

This will see professional athletes, such as Kaylah McPhee, Alana Parnaby and Casey Hoole, compete for $30K in prize money.

The top-performing players from a series of 20 Australian Progress Series events throughout the season, which attracted 2473 entrants, were invited to participate.

Entry to the December Showdown is free for spectators.

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