13 May 2024 | Tennis SA

Six Aussie teens are set to represent Australia for the highly anticipated 2024 Junior Billie Jean King Cup and Junior Davis Cup Asia-Oceania qualifying events in Kazakhstan this month.

Fifteen-year-old Cruz Hewitt, son of Aussie legend and Davis Cup captain Lleyton, heads up the Junior Davis Cup team alongside Cameron Burton (16, WA), and Jeffrey Strydom (15, SA). Under the experienced mentorship of former world No.2 in doubles and Davis Cup stalwart Sandon Stolle, these rising stars are poised to represent the green and gold with pride.

“I look forward to taking my first Junior Davis Cup team away and to continue supporting our high performing athletes,” Stolle said.

“It’s a great experience for these young guys to play for Australia and be part of the green and gold history of tennis.”

Leading the charge for the Junior Billie Jean King Cup team are Renee Alame (14, NSW), Ava Beck (15, Vic), and Tahlia Kokkinis (15, Qld). Under the seasoned guidance of former player Jessica Moore, now Tennis Australia National Lead, Tours, Camps and Wellbeing, the team is ready for a taste of top level international competition.

“As captain I’m really looking forward to seeing our girls competing in potentially challenging conditions over the six days,” said Moore.

“We’ve spoken a lot about sustaining and backing up our performance throughout the event, regardless of what’s presented to us.

“Ava, Renee and Tahlia are quality players and collectively bring a lot to our team. We look forward to working together and representing ourselves, and Australia, with pride.”

The Junior Billie Jean King Cup qualifying competition takes place in Shymkent from 13-18 May, followed by the Junior Davis Cup from 20-25 May. The top four nations will progress to the finals in November.

Australia has won Junior Davis Cup five times, 1986, 1987, 2000, 2007 and lastly in 2009, when Luke Saville (SA), Jason Kubler (Qld) and Joey Swaysland (NSW) were crowned champions.

In Junior Billie Jean King Cup, formerly Junior Fed Cup, Australia is also a five-time champion nation, winning in 1987, 1988, 1993, 2007 and most recently in 2011 when Ash Barty (Qld) led the team to a win over Canada.