December Showdown Nationals, Melbourne
This past month the country’s best players assembled at Melbourne Park for the December Showdown. In 16 days, more than 1,500 matches were played to find out who the best players across each age group were. The Australian Open Play-Off was also held at the same time which the junior players enjoyed watching.
The December Showdown Nationals, The Australian Teams Championships and the Australian Open Wildcard Play-Off were held from December 2-17. Western Australia had 38 players attend the Nationals this year across the various age groups. The Tennis West Coaching Team and a number of elite private coaches from across WA were also in Melbourne to provide coaching support.
Notable Results
Australian National Championships Individual Event
12/U Boys Singles Finalist, Zach Viiala
12/U Boys Doubles Finalists, Zach Viiala & Alex Despoja
12/U Girls Doubles Winners, Jessie Culley & Hana Sonton defeated Lily Fairclough & Abbi Gibson
14/U Boys Singles Quarter Finalist, Ethan Dunn
14/U Girls Singles Quarter Finalists, Talia Gibson & Lauren Nikoloski
16/U Boys Singles Quarter Finalist, Tristan Schoolkate
16/U Boys Doubles Finalists, Tristan Schoolkate & William Hann
18/U Boys Singles Quarter Finalist, Tristan Schoolkate
Australian National Teams Championships
12/U Boys Team (4th) Zach Viiala, Zach Melanie & Cian Ingles
12/U Girls Team (7th) Jessie Culley, Taylah Preston & Lily Fairclough
14/U Boys Team (7th) Derek Pham, Ethan Dunn & Arden De Melo
14/U Girls Team (2nd) Talia Gibson, Lauren Nikoloski & Shanelle Laconi
Junior Hopman Cup, Perth
On October 8, teams competed in a round robin format identical to the Hopman Cup.
The teams were; USA (Talia Gibson & Zach Viiala), Russia (Lauren Nikoloski & Cian Ingles), Australia (Skye Royall & Zach Melanie), Belgium (Ethan Dunn & Taylah Preston), Germany (Jessie Culley & Arden De Melo, Ethan Cook & Brodie Schoolkate), Canada (James Newton & Saanvi Tak) and Switzerland (Lily Fairclough & Derek Pham).
The final match was between the USA and Belgium with the USA winning the tie 2-1 after a win in the deciding mixed doubles. As the winning team, Zach and Talia met with Team USA at the Mastercard Hopman Cup. Jack Sock and Coco Vandeweghe hit with Zach and Talia, posed for photos together and gave some valuable insight on tour life and some helpful tips for their future in the sport.
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