SA youngster Alexander Despoja follows Alex de Minaur and Todd Woodbridge in winning Australian under-14 boys’ tennis title
SA teenager Alex Despoja has completed a successful week for the state’s emerging tennis talents, winning a national junior crown previously held by Alex de Minaur and Todd Woodbridge.
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A promising week for SA tennis has been capped off by Alexander Despoja winning a national title previously owned by two of Australia’s leading lights.
The Croweater defeated WA’s Zachary Viiala in straight sets in the final of the under-14 boys’ championships at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
Despoja joined current world No.18 Alex de Minaur and 22-time Grand Slam doubles champion Todd Woodbridge as a winner of the underage crown.
But the youngster had to overcome a tense moment when he hit a winner to secure the 6-3, 7-6 victory.
“I didn’t realise that I’d won it,” the No.2 seed said.
“I didn’t know if it was in or not.
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“It felt really good to get the win, especially off a winner as well.
“It was pretty crucial to close the match out, because if I lost that set, the third set would have been a lot tougher.
“It’s amazing to win. I’m still in shock right now.”
She saw off another Croweater, Natasha Russell, to follow in the footsteps of world No.1 Ash Barty, who achieved the feat at the same age in 2011.
Despoja backed up his breakout triumph by teaming up with Viiala to prevail in the under-14 boys’ doubles final also on Sunday.
The duo downed Charlie Camus, of the ACT, and Pavle Marinkov, of NSW, 7-6, 6-4 in the decider.