Tennis Australia Press Release, December 16, 2024
The 2024 Australian Junior Tour Finals have concluded with new national champions crowned across the 12/u, 14/u, 16/u and 18/u age groups.
Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre hosted the 12/u and 14/u Junior Tour Finals from 4 to 10 November before Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre staged the 16/u and 18/u Junior Tour Finals from 7 to 15 December.
Novak Palombo (Vic), Ayumi Ito (NSW), Ethan Domingo (NSW) and Emilie Chen (NSW) were crowned the singles champions in the 12/u and 14/u age groups.
Meanwhile at the Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre, Sarah Mildren (SA), Ymerali Ibraimi (Vic), Ava Beck (Vic) and Lachlan McFadzean (NSW) took out the singles titles at the 16/u and 18/u Australian Championships.
More than 360 top ranked juniors were given the opportunity to play for national titles and exclusive opportunities, including the inaugural Alex de Minaur Junior Tour Finals scholarships and wildcards into the 2025 Australian Open Junior Championships.
Tournament Director Mark Pead said the series of tournaments is a great opportunity for juniors to see where they’re at and gain competitive match experience.
“They’re going to be on the world stage hopefully – it might be ITF junior events, some qualifying events, summer of tennis events. So, it’s a great opportunity for them to get ready for that,” Pead said.
“There’s a lot of history at this event going back [16 years] with a lot of great players coming through. I think these guys probably look up to that going ‘[I want to have] my name on that trophy with an Ash Barty, a Thanasi Kokkinakis, a Jordan Thompson’, it’s quite an achievement.”
The 16/u boys top seed and champion Ymerali Ibraimi achieved his goal of following in the footsteps of his idol Nick Kyrgios, a previous winner of the tournament.
“When I was very young, I idolised Kyrgios a lot,” Ibraimi said. “Even his banner’s up here when he was 16 and 18 years old making the finals of these tournaments. To see that I’m in these tournaments that he played, it’s a great honour.”
Ibraimi will be awarded a coveted main draw wildcard into the 2025 AGL Loy Yang Traralgon International and the 2025 Australian Open Junior Championships.
When asked about getting the chance to play at the Australian Open, he said: “It would help my game a lot to see what’s out there in the world. It would definitely give me a big confidence boost to play in front of the Aussie fans and to really show the world who I am.”
More about the Australian Junior Tour Finals
- Throughout the year, there are four annual Australian Junior Championship events held on each of the Grand Slam surfaces – clay, grass and hard court. This Junior Masters event sees the highest ranked juniors in each respective age category assemble to compete for national titles in each age group.
- Ash Barty was the under 12s champion in the event’s inaugural year and claimed the 18/u crown in 2011. Nick Kyrgios defeated his future doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis for the under 18s title in 2012, while Alex de Minaur won back-to-back events in 2013 and 2014.
Final results
12/u Singles
Boys: [1] Novak Palombo (VIC) d [2] Aleksandr Kharkov (NSW) 6-4 6-3
Girls: [3] Ayumi Ito (NSW) d [4] Emma Esenova (NSW) 7-6(4) 6-1
12/u Doubles
Boys: [1] N Palombo (VIC) / C Manton (VIC) d [2] A Kharkov (NSW) / S Lavorato (NSW) 1-6 7-5 [10-8]
Girls: A Chen (Qld) / J Lie (NSW) d S Haddock (SA) / E Liang (NSW) 6-3 2-6 [10-5]
14/u Singles
Boys: [1] Ethan Domingo (NSW) d [2] Lucas Han (Qld) 6-2 6-3
Girls: [1] Emilie Chen [NSW] d Ami Dalla Pozza (NSW) 6-3 6-1
14/u Doubles
Boys: [2] K Enwright (VIC) / L Han (QLD) d [3] S Patel (QLD) / H Abir Sekhon (NSW) 6-7(5) 6-3 [10-5]
Girls: [1] E Chen (NSW) / P Ma (VIC) d [2] V Rosa (NSW) / T Russell (QLD) 6-4 6-7(3) [13-11]
16/u Singles
Boys: [1] Ymerali Ibraimi (VIC) d [4] Evan Vasiliadis (VIC) 6-1 6-2
Girls: [2] Sarah Mildren (SA) d [5] Ellen Hirschi (NSW) 6-3 6-2
16/u Doubles
Boys: [1] F Fantasia (SA) / Y Ibraimi (VIC) d [2] C McEvoy (QLD) / C Yarak (SA) 6-0 7-6(0)
Girls: [2] G Campbell (QLD) / T Lessue (SA) d T Glennon (SA) / D Harrison (SA) 6-3 6-2
18/u Singles
Boys: [2] Lachlan McFadzean (NSW) d [3] Michael Smith (SA) 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3
Girls: [1] Ava Beck (VIC) d [2] Koharu Nishikawa (VIC) 6-1 1-6 6-4
18/u Doubles
Boys: [1] J Hahn (SA) / L McFadzean (NSW) d B Errey (VIC) / T Ranson (VIC) 7-5 6-4
Girls: [1] K Nishikawa (VIC) / A Beck (VIC) d [2] A Aulia (NSW) / G Villegas (VIC) 6-4 7-5
