The future looks bright with these talented young Victorian tennis players
Australia’s next Nick Kyrgios or Ash Barty could be among this young generation of Victorian tennis aces. Find out who are our future Grand Slam hopes.
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The future of Australian tennis is already bright helped by this next generation of shining stars from Victoria.
The next grand slam champion could be on this list as the juniors emulate to be the next Nick Kyrgios, Ash Barty, Sam Stosur or Alex de Minaur.
With the help of Tennis Australia, we’ve compiled a list of more than 20 players who are all on track for future success.
See the talented players below.
Koharu Nishikawa
The Bentleigh East youngster made the 13 and under state team last year and was involved recently in Victoria’s win in under-13 at the Australian Teams Championships.
She was also a finalist for her age group at the 2021 Australian Claycourt Championships before combining with Ava Beck to win the doubles.
She plays in Grade 2 of Tennis Victoria Pennant and is already an ITF ranked junior at 13 years old.
Alec Gaudin
The Kooyong Tennis Club player is currently a member of the Rafa Nadal Academy and has trained overseas at their base.
The 17-year-old this year has worked on his junior ranking by competing overseas.
He is currently inside the top 650 and made his first junior final at the J5 Nabeul event in Tunisia.
Gaudin also made his senior tennis debut in Spain, falling in the first round of qualifying in the 15,000 event in Valldoreix.
Bridget Mihulka
Bridget is in the 15 and under ranks and rising fast.
From Brunswick West, Mihulka was a state 15 and under representative last year and was selected in the Victorian Pizzey Cup team for the secondary schools national competition.
She also represented Victoria recently at the Australian Teams Championships on the Gold Coast.
She has an ITF junior ranking of 703 and was as high as 653 earlier this year.
She plays for the North Suburban Junior Tennis Association in A Grade, as well as Grade 1 of Tennis Victoria Pennant.
Gabrielle Villegas
The 15-year-old is currently in the top 1200 in juniors in the ITF rankings after success in Singapore earlier this year.
She made the semi-finals at the J4 event while also making the quarterfinals of the J5 event.
The Bacchus Marsh player recently competed for Victoria in under-15 in the Australian Teams Championship.
Ava Beck
The talented 13-year-old was part of Victoria’s win at the recent Australian Teams Championships in under-13 on the Gold Coast, combining with Koharu Nishikawa and Gurmanat Sandhu.
She teamed with Nishikawa to win last year’s national clay court title in doubles in their age group.
Beck is a Kooyong Tennis Club member who also has a scholarship with the tennis centre for this year.
Luka Vuglar
The Kooyong Tennis Club player has slashed more than 1000 spots in his junior ranking this year to be in the top 1700 juniors in the world.
The 18-year-old made the quarterfinals of the J5 Maribor event in Slovenia and has spent most of this year overseas.
He’s recently transitioned to the professional tour as well, trying to qualify for the main draw in tournaments in Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Gurmanat Sandhu
Sandhu combined with Ava Beck and Koharu Nishikawa to win the Australian teams championship in under-13.
Sandhu is currently the 406th best junior in the world in under-14, according to the Universal Tennis Rankings.
The 14-year-old was also the best player from North Eastern Junior Tennis Association at the recent Daphne Fancutt Shield, competing in under-14 for the event.
Dwaine Duncan
The 19-year-old made his first ever main draw in May in Tunisia but was unable to win a game against fellow Australian Li Tu.
The Werribee player has been getting help from the Altona, Hoppers Crossing and Laverton Park tennis clubs to help him progress to the next stage.
He recently competed at the ITF events in Caloundra and is expected to be involved in the next Australian ITF events to be held in Darwin next month.
Roisin Gilheany
From Port Melbourne, Gilheany has an ITF junior ranking of 331.
The 16-year-old received a wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open juniors this year.
She won the junior ITF J4 (Preveza) singles last year and four junior doubles titles – Haifa, Ioannina, Preveza and Tarragona.
The teenager this year added another junior doubles title, winning at the J3 event in Loughborough.
Gilheany was a female junior athlete of the year finalist at the 2021 Australian tennis awards.
Nikolas Baker
The youngster from Mernda was an 11 years and under state selection last year and a finalist at the Rafa Nadal Master Invitation Event in January.
He’s also the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club’s 16 years and under boy’s singles club champion.
This year he has continued his strong start to his career, winning the national clay court titles for singles and doubles in under-12.
He is currently the number one Australian in the age group.
He’s some prospect.
Michael Korobitsin
From Warranwood, Korobitsin has already logged a long list of achievements, including in January when he was a finalist at the Rafa Nadal Master Invitation Event in 14 years and under ranks.
He represented Victoria this year in the Australian Team Championships and also represented Eastern Region earlier this year at the Pat Cash Cup.
Has also played association junior league for Eastern Region.
Korobitsin first gained attention in 2019 when School Sport Victoria selected him for the Bruce Cup Championship in Perth.
Daniel Jovanovski
Jovanovski was the best Victorian player in under-14 last year and also represented his state at the Australian Teams Championship in 2021.
He would have represented Victoria this year but was overseas competing in the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, winning multiple matches in singles and making finals in doubles in Austria and Germany.
Jovanovski is a member of the Millennium Tennis Academy.
Ymerali Ibraimi
The Kooyong Tennis Club scholarship holder was the second best Victorian in the 12 and under age group last year.
He represented Victoria recently at the Australian Teams Championship in 13 and under as the state finished fifth.
He’s currently in the top 350 in juniors in the world in under-14.
Cooper Kose
Currently in the top 130 in juniors in the world in under-14, according to the Universal Tennis Rankings.
Kose was also in the top 10 in the state in the 12 and under rankings in Victoria last year.
He is coached by former professional tennis player Blazo Djurovic.
Cooper White
Cooper could be one of the next bright prospects for Victoria in the men’s game.
The Mornington Tennis Club product reached a career-high ranking of 101 in juniors last year before signing this year with the University of Central Florida to play college tennis for the next few years.
White has represented Australia at the junior Davis Cup.
He was also the best under-14 player in the country, winning the December Showdown event in the age group a couple of years ago.
Zara Larke
The 17-year-old made her debut at the Australian Open juniors this year, making the second round after qualifying for the main draw.
The Kooyong Tennis Club member is currently the 172nd ranked junior in the world.
Larke’s year has been successful in juniors, winning the Mornington J3 event in May and also making the semi at the J3 event in Canberra in February.
Stefani Webb
The 17-year-old is currently ranked inside the top 350 in the world in juniors after success in Australian tournaments during the year.
She made the final of the J3 Mornington event and the quarterfinals of the J3 Canberra event, losing both times to Zara Larke.
It’s the second year in a row she made the J3 Mornington event final.
The Hume Tennis Club member also made the semis of the Brisbane and Gold Coast J5 event last year.
Cooper Errey
Errey, with an ATP ranking of 1580, competed at the Bendigo ATP Challenger event in January, an Australian Open lead-in event, and received a wildcard into the main draw of the Open juniors.
From Ivanhoe, he’s the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club’s men’s open singles champion – good going for a 16 years and under competitor.
Errey also made the quarterfinals of the J4 Singapore event to slash his ITF junior ranking to under 900 in the world.
Isabella Crossman
The 15-year-old is already inside the top 600 juniors in the world after only competing on the circuit earlier this year.
The Echuca tennis player earlier this year almost qualified for the Australian Open juniors while also winning the recent J5 event in Darwin.
Crossman also won the under-16 state titles in singles and doubles on hardcourt earlier this year.
The rising star also represented Victoria in under-15 at the Australian Teams Championship recently.
Josh Reid
The North Ringwood tennis player earned his first point in the ATP ranking this year and is currently ranked inside the top 1800 in the world.
From Box Hill Secondary College the 21-year-old is a former under-18 state champion on the clay.
Amor Jasika
Jasika, 17, from Greenvale, is making good progress in the game, playing Grade 1 Tennis Victoria Pennant.
He competed at the Australian Open juniors tournament earlier this year and recently competed at ITF events in Caloundra and Canberra, making his first ever main draw at the 15k Caloundra event from July 25 to 31.
Jasika is the younger brother of Omar Jasika, who won the US Open junior singles and doubles title in 2014 and is a former top 200 player in the world.
Ken Cavrak
The 21-year-old is at a career-high ranking this month of 944 in the ATP rankings after a solid season so far.
Cavrak made the semis of the ITF 25K event in Canberra earlier this year, losing to top 100 player Jason Kubler who won the title.
The Maribyrnong player has recently played in Tunisia and Vietnam and made his first ITF doubles final at the 15K Monastir (Tunisia F36) event last week with fellow Aussie Chase Ferguson.
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