Bendigo, VIC, 27 June 2024 | Tennis Australia

This year’s 16/u and 18/u Australian Championships and Progress Series Masters will be played in Bendigo from Saturday 7 to Sunday 15 December 2024.

Tennis Australia will host the tournament in conjunction with the City of Greater Bendigo and Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre.

The 16/u Australian Championships will invite the 16 players who finished highest on the Australian Junior Tour points race. The best four players from this group will move onto stage two to compete against the 20 best players chosen via their UTR. The overall winner of the 16/u Australian Championships will be awarded with a main draw singles wildcard into the Australian Open 2025 Junior Championships.

Previous winners of the 16/u Australian Championships include Max Purcell (2013), Alex de Minaur (2014), Jaimee Fourlis (2014) and Talia Gibson (2019).

The 18/u Australian Championships invites the best junior players from across Australia based on their UTR.16 players will compete in qualifying, with four players moving onto the 16-player round-robin main draw, before the best eight players move onto the knockout rounds. The singles winners of the 18/u Australian Championships will be awarded a qualifying singles wildcard into Canberra International 2025.

Previous winners of the 18/u Australian Championships include Ash Barty (2011), Nick Kyrgios (2012), Maddison Inglis (2013), Priscilla Hon (2015) and Rinky Hijikata (2018).

The Progress Series Masters event will offer a total of $30,000 in prizemoney and will invite the 16 best players from the 2024 Progress Series prizemoney race. The first Progress Series Masters event was played last year with Casey Hoole and Kaylah McPhee from Queensland winning the singles events.

“We are excited to take the 16/u and 18/u Australian Championships as well as the Progress Series Masters to Bendigo in December,” Tennis Australia Head of Competitive Play and Professional Events Francis Soyer said.

“The Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre is one of the best regional tennis facilities in Australia and we look forward bringing the 16/u Australian Championships back to the town for the first time since 2006, this time adding the 18/u Australian Championships and Progress Series Masters to the event.”

City of Greater Bendigo Manager Tourism and Major Events Terry Karamaloudis is excited to welcome the tournament to the Bendigo region.

“We are delighted to be welcoming the 16/u and 18/u Australian Championships and Progress Series Masters to Bendigo later this year,” Mr Karamaloudis said.

“These events will see some of the best in Australia compete at the Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre throughout the week, providing a great opportunity for our community to support and enjoy.”

The tournament will be broadcast live, with select matches to be streamed exclusively on KommunityTV.

The 16/u Australian Championships, 18/u Australian Championships and Progress Series Masters will take place following 260 tournaments held across the country in 2024. Players have the opportunity to compete for points throughout the year to go towards the year-end finals. More information here.