AUSSIE Ava Beck is on a 10-game winning streak and enjoying the fortnight of her life after collecting back-to-back titles at Mornington and Canberra. Both J100 titles, the world 192 is currently unbeaten on clay having moved from hardcourt to the surface for the tournaments, and doubled her twin titles from 2023, which came from hardcourt events.

Following on from J30 titles at the Adelaide Junior International and Fiji International Junior Championships last year – the latter of which is coming up in a week’s time – Beck has found her form on clay, winning in her home state of Victoria before crossing to the nation’s capital to collect back-to-back titles on the surface.

Even in defeat this season, Beck has performed admirably, reaching a quarter final and then semi-final at the pair of J100 events in Brisbane back in February, going down to Renee Alame 7-6 6-1 in the latter. The pair met in the Canberra final on the weekend and this time it was Beck who got the upper hand over her fellow 15-year-old, winning 6-2 6-4 to life the trophy aloft.

Beck is a rising talent in Australian women’s tennis, and though she is still a while off competing consistently on the WTA Tour, alongside Alame are showing the homegrown talent in the land Down Under. Hailing from the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, Beck is going from strength to strength this year and has only dropped two sets in her past 10 matches.

Looking at the boys’ singles event in Canberra, New Zealand’s Harry Pugh fell short of making it a Trans-Tasman double, losing in the decider to Indian, Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar. The 16-year-old Indian is set to re-enter the Top 100 of the junior boys rankings with the title, having also having taken care of Aussie Cruz Hewitt, the son of Grand Slam champion, Lleyton.

AROUND THE WORLD

Unseeded Spaniard Andres Santamarta Roig was too good for American Stiles Brockett in Villena winning the J300 event in straight sets. In front of a home crowd, the world number 79 – who will improve that career-high this week with the title – won 7-6 6-2, and also had an easy win over tournament top seed Reda Bennani in the second round, 6-1 6-4.

In the girls’ final of the same event, Kazakhstan’s Sonja Zhiyenbayeva continued her good form in 2024 with the fourth seed knocking off top seed, Belgian Jeline Vandromme with a dominant second set, 7-5 6-0. It was the world number 31’s first title of the year and largest of her career, but she also made the final of the Cairo J300 before going down in three sets to Poland’s Monika Stankiewicz.

Looking to the other triple-digit junior tournament, Brazil’s Nicolas Oliveira and Czech Republic’s Sofie Hettlerova won in Asuncion, taking home a J100 trophy each. Oliveira won 4-6 7-6 6-4 over Peruvian Luis Jose Nakamine in the boys’ singles, while Hettlerova cruised past Ukrainian Aleksandra Kyselova in the girls’ singles, 6-4 6-0.

WEEKLY FINAL RESULTS:

J300 – Villena

Boys: Andres Santamarta Roig (ESP) defeated Stiles Brockett (USA) 7-6 6-2
Girls: Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (KAZ) defeated Jeline Vandromme (BEL) 7-5 6-0

J100 – Canberra

Boys: Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (IND) defeated Harry Pugh (NZL) 6-4 4-6 6-2
Girls: Ava Beck (AUS) defeated Renee Alame (AUS) 6-2 6-4

J100 Asuncion

Boys: Nicolas Oliveira (BRA) defeated Luis Jose Nakamine (PER) 4-6 7-6 6-4
Girls: Sofie Hettlerova (CZE) defeated Aleksandra Kyselova (UKR) 6-4 6-0