5 December 2022 | Tennis SA

The annual December Showdown presented by Kia is kicking off the summer of tennis, with the country’s best junior players invited to compete at Melbourne Park over the next two weeks.

The December Showdown is Australia’s most prestigious junior tennis series and runs from Saturday 3 to Saturday 17 December at the home of the Australian Open.

This edition of the showdown has been transformed to allow the best players from the 12/u, 14/u, 16/u and 18/u age groups the opportunity to compete against their peers for national titles.

Representing South Australia in the 18/u age group this week will be Hugh Winter, Henry Lamchinniah, Brendan Loh, Alexander Despoja, Elim Yan and Caitlin Baker, while Jeffrey Strydom, Ari Lewis-Kelly, Filip Fantasia, Diana Badalyan, Sarah Mildren and Kalina Stefanov will take part in the 18/u tournament.

The 2022 December Showdown features:

• More than 150 of Australia’s top young tennis players competing for national titles
• 16 players from the 18/u, 16/u and 12/u age groups
• 32 players from the 14/u age group
• Draws will be round robin, with top-two placing players from each group progressing to knockout quarterfinals. There will also be a qualifying for the 18/u, 16/u and 12/u draws.

“December Showdown is a fantastic way to start our summer of tennis, and we are looking forward to being back at Melbourne Park for the first time in three years,” said December Showdown Tournament Director Francis Soyer.

“Staging national championships for our junior players is pivotal to providing the best competition opportunities for our pathway, and we couldn’t think of a more fitting venue than the home of the AO for the end-of-year championships.”

Live scores will be available here.

Entry to December Showdown is free for spectators.