24 January 2012 | Tennis West

Seventeen year old Storm Sanders has progressed to the third round of the Australian Open Junior Girls Singles.

The unseeded youngster from Secret Harbour opened up her Australian Open campaign on Sunday, knocking out her opponent Kathinka Von Deichmann from Liechtenstein in straight sets 7-5 6-4. Sanders settled into her stroke early in front of a green and gold dominant crowd, forcing her lanky opponent all over the court before launching countless custom forehand winners down the line.

Deichmann took an early lead in the 2^nd, but to no avail as Sanders shifted up a gear and reeled her opponent back in – breaking back twice before consolidating the  match 6-4 in the second.

Sanders then progressed to the third round without dropping a set, cruising past USA’s Julia Elbaba 6-3 6-4.

Sanders will now meet the number one seed of the tournament, Irina Khromacheva from Russia. Khromacheva managed a very comfortable win over Naiktha Bairns of Australia 6-3 6-2 followed by USA’s Stephanie Nauta 6-1 6-2 in the second round.