Meet the Gold Coast tennis stars who won QLD Junior Teams Carnival
The future of Gold Coast tennis is in safe hands after the region’s best young guns took out the Queensland Junior Teams Carnival Title last week. Meet the top athletes here.
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The future of Gold Coast tennis is in safe hands after the next generation of stars took out the Queensland Junior Teams Carnival Title at the University of Queensland last week.
The Gold Coast beat out Northeast NSW and Metropolitan Brisbane by the narrowest of margins to notch the region’s first since 2013, their thirteenth win since the inception of the competition in 1987.
The young guns took out the 11 and 13 years divisions, only dropping three matches along the way, while the solid results of the 15 and 17 years teams carried the Gold Coast to the overall win.
Meet the next generation of Gold Coast tennis stars here:
Kira Russell
Part of the winning 11 years team, Kira Russell came third in her singles event.
The 10-year-old has been playing tennis for half her life, and in 2022 was the Super 10s No. 1 in the Queensland v NSW State of Origin.
Russell attends AB Paterson, trains at KDV Sport and is coached by Shayne Tabb at Tennis Plus at Queens Park.
Vivaan Nehra
Vivaan Nehra had an excellent Junior Teams Carnival performance, coming runner up in the singles event and first with the 11 years team.
11-year-old Nehra attends Coomera Anglican College and trains at Tennis Plus and is a sure player to watch in the future.
Nehra started tennis at the age of seven, and has a won JDS tournaments in the ACT as well as the Champion of Champions in the ACT, the Rover Laver 10/U 2021 singles and doubles titles, and the 2022 12/U State Age singles and doubles.
Nehra is a member of the national development squad in Brisbane and recently received an invitation to play in the Road to Brisbane United Cup.
Ana Popovich
13-year-old Ana Popovich has big dreams to become a world number one tennis star, and is looking to be on track after a stellar 2022 on the court.
Popovich, who trains at KDV Sport, came second in the 13 years singles event as well as winning the teams event
She qualified for the National Hard Court Championships, winning a wildcard in a qualifying event.
Popovich was also the Ashley Cooper Open Age Championships winner in 12U Tier 1, the KDV Junior Slam Series winner in 14U Tier 1, the KDV Junior Slam Series doubles winner for 14U and Junior Tennis Carnival and Roy Emerson Premier Series team winner and individual 13U runner up.
She is now attending National Academy squads and was awarded KDV’s most improved player for 2022.
Antoni Luo
12-year-old Antoni Luo was another member of the winning 13 years team, who came third in the singles event.
Having played since he was six, the Southport State School student attends Moore Tennis Academy and has won multiple tournaments and fixtures.
Luo is a two-time Tennis Gold Coast Inter-School Tennis Challenge Tennis champion, won the Road to Brisbane state final in 2020 and 2021, and attended the 12 years national camp, where only the top six in Queensland attended.
Anastasija Stokic
Anastasija Stokic came fourth in the 15 years singles event and sixth in the teams event.
The 14-year-old started playing a week before her third birthday, and hasn’t looked back since.
Stokic formerly represented Queensland in the Bruce Cup where they came runners up, is part of the QLD National Development Squad and will be attending Grasscourt nationals in the coming weeks.
Blake Foreshew
15-year-old Blake Foreshew is a player on the rise, who came eighth in the singles event and tenth with his 15 years team.
Foreshew is relatively new to tennis compared to his Gold Coast counterparts, starting in just 2019 and beginning competitive tennis last year.
But the Miami Tennis Club player has hopes to take his tennis overseas, inspiring him to attend Queensland Academies in Southport in 2023, where he can complete the International Baccalaureate program, an internationally recognised education.
In 2022, Foreshew was the Gold Coast JDS Regional Play Off U/15 Boys Singles winner, won matches in both singles and doubles at the Max Stuart and Milton Rothman Shield Day, and the MAPIA Junior Series U/16-U/18 Boys Doubles winner.
Sarah Bigg
15-year-old Sarah Bigg competed above her age at the Junior Teams Carnival, coming third in the 17 years singles and ninth in the teams event.
Bigg competed in her first ever tournament at age nine, and has since won 20 tournaments and come runner up in seven.
The St Hilda’s School student has competed in the Junior Teams Carnival four times, the Queensland School Sport State Championships twice, the Rafa Nadal National Titles and Road to Brisbane state final.
Jared Martins
17-year-old Jared Martins came 30th in the singles event and ninth with his Gold Coast 17 years team.
Martins, a Sanctuary Cove club player, has been playing for four years and has participated in the Gold Coast Saturday fixtures finals for the past three years.
Martins has also been part of the JDS State Finals team travelling to Rockhampton for the past two years.
Young Gold Coast gun heading to Australian Open
While other kids his age are enjoying the Christmas school holidays, one young Gold Coast tennis star is preparing for the biggest challenge of his career: the Australian Open.
16-year-old Thomas Gadecki is coming off a massive singles title win at the U16 Australian Championships in Melbourne on Saturday, defeating South Australian Brendan Loh in the final 7-6 (6), 6-4.
The win earned Gadecki a wildcard entrance to his first junior Grand Slam tournament, where his older sister and world number 200 Olivia, 20, will also be playing.
“It’s amazing, especially getting to play the Australian Open, my first Grand Slam ever, and sister will being playing too hopefully,” Gadecki said.
“That’s my aim to try and become a pro and play at all Grand Slams – that would be amazing.”
Ranked fourth in his age group in Australia, Gadecki said he came into the tournament wanting the win but knows there’s still a way to go before he can go pro.
“It was something I was aiming for, but I know everyone plays to win so I just came out to do my best.
“There definitely was some great tennis played, but I’d say there’s still a few things I can work on.”
Gadecki trains full time at KDV Sport under coach Helena Franko, and has been homeschooled since Year 4 to focus on his tennis.
“She’s spent endless hours on the court with me to improve me as a player and a person, I devote everything I’ve achieved so far to her,” Gadecki said.
The young star will now look towards the Traralgon J1 junior international beginning January 13, before the junior Australian Open on January 18.
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