Sydney, NSW, Australia, 13 November 2024 | Camille Russo
Novak Palombo (VIC), Ayumi Ito (NSW), Ethan Domingo (NSW) and Emilie Chen (NSW) have been crowned the singles champions at the 2024 12/u and 14/u Junior Tour Finals at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
Not only did the winners take home the coveted national titles, but they also won the inaugural De Minaur Junior Tour scholarships, awarded to the two winners of each age group.
READ MORE: De Minaur champions future of Aussie tennis ahead of Junior Tour Finals
In the 12/u girls’ singles action, third seed Ayumi Ito defeated fourth seed Emma Esenova 7-6(4) 6-1 in an almost two-hour-long battle.
When asked how it felt to take home the title and the chance to train with top-10 Aussie Alex de Minaur, Ito said: “It feels pretty good. I hope I don’t stuff up with Alex. He’s not the biggest like me, so it’s pretty cool how he moves really quick, and hopefully I can do the same.
“I think it’s just going to make me grow as a person and just inspire me in a lot of different ways. I want to be a professional tennis player, and I think this is one of the steps to make it.”
In the boys’ 12/u final, top seed Novak Palombo beat second seed Aleksandr Kharkov 6-4 6-3, finishing the season in Australia without losing any singles matches all year.
Going through his mind in the final moments of the match was: “finish it, finish it, you really want this scholarship!”
The inaugural #DeMinaurJuniorTour scholarship recipients 🙌
Congratulations to the winners of the 12/u and 14/u Junior Tour Finals!
🏆 14/u Boys: Ethan Domingo (NSW)
🏆 14/u Girls: Emilie Chen (NSW)
🏆 12/u Girls: Ayumi Ito (NSW)
🏆 12/u Boys: Novak Palombo (VIC) pic.twitter.com/Nxg3xRJLXj— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) November 11, 2024
“I’m very pleased with myself because I put lots of hard work into this tournament,” Palombo shared. “I want to learn how he [Alex] deals with crowds, everyone watching him and how he goes in important moments. I was definitely more motivated to win because of the scholarship.”
In the 14/u boys’ singles final, No.2 seed seed Lucas Han wasn’t able to defeat No.1 seed Ethan Domingo.
“I won this title, and I get to go to Spain next year and train with Alex,” Domingo said after his 6-2 6-3 win. “Feels good. It’s just amazing, I’m super excited.
“My game will be similar to his game when I’m older, because my physique won’t be as big, so it’ll be good to see how he trains. It’s a once in a lifetime experience training with a top-10 player.”
Emilie Chen claimed the 14/u girls’ singles title, defeating Ami Dalla Pozza 6-3 6-1.
When asked about De Minaur and the scholarship, Chen said: “I can learn a lot from Alex, hopefully the training week will help me and I will do better in the tournaments after it, so just hoping to get a good result in.
“Being a New South Wales player, it’s pretty cool that we have that in common. I see a lot of his highlights, he’s running around everywhere, I don’t even know how he gets it back. It’s pretty cool to have him as an inspiration.”
The 16/u and 18/u Australian Championships and Progress Series Masters will be held at the Bendigo Tennis Association in Victoria from 7-15 December.
