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Junior ranking movers: Rising Aussies making mark on world stage

Junior ranking movers: Rising Aussies making mark on world stage

Renee Alame, Ty Host and Tahlia Kokkinis all sit at career-high positions in the latest ITF world junior rankings.

Australia , 21 August 2024 | Leigh Rogers

Junior girls

Emerson Jones remains the top-ranked Australian in the latest ITF World Tennis Tour junior girls’ rankings, sitting at a career-high world No.2.

The 16-year-old from the Gold Coast, a girls’ singles finalist at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this season, is not the only promising Aussie teen making their mark on the world stage.

Renee Alame rises to a career-high world No.118 this week. The 15-year-old from Sydney was a singles finalist at the recent NSW Junior Open, improving her season record on the ITF world junior tour to 30 wins from her 38 matches.

Tahlia Kokkinis has won 16 of her past 17 matches on the ITF world junior tour, which includes three title-winning runs in the past month. This has helped the 16-year-old from Brisbane climb to a career-high world No.141.

Jizelle Sibai makes her debut inside the Australian top 10 this week. The 14-year-old from Sydney jumps up 61 places to a career-high world No.208 after her semifinal appearance at the NSW Junior Open.

AUSSIE TOP 10
Player Age Rank Move
Emerson Jones 16 No.2 0
Alana Subasic 17 No.77 +3
Maya Joint 18 No.91 0
Renee Alame 15 No.118 +34
Lily Taylor 17 No.135 +35
Tahlia Kokkinis 16 No.141 0
Ava Beck 16 No.143 +6
Jizelle Sibai 14 No.208 +61
Koharu Nishikawa 15 No.227 +3
Kimiko Cooper 16 No.266 -51
Junior boys

Cruz Hewitt is edging closer to a top-100 breakthrough in the latest ITF World Tennis Tour junior boys’ rankings.

After scooping back-to-back ITF titles in Sydney, the 15-year-old Hewitt rises 48 spots to a career-high world No.117. This makes Hewitt the ninth highest-ranked boy in the world in his 2008 birth year.

Ty Host, who finished runner-up to Hewitt at last week’s NSW Junior Open, also sits at a new career-high. The 17-year-old improves 26 positions to world No.68. This sees Host become the new No.2 Australian, leapfrogging last year’s NSW Junior Open champion Pavle Marinkov.

AUSSIE TOP 10
Player Age Rank Move
Hayden Jones 17 No.10 0
Ty Host 17 No.68 +26
Pavle Marinkov 18 No.94 -40
Hugh Winter 17 No.104 -21
Cruz Hewitt 15 No.117 +48
Jake Dembo 16 No.132 -1
Jerome Estephan 17 No.176 +3
Rohan Hazratwala 17 No.183 +8
Brendan Loh 18 No.194 -4
Daniel Jovanovski 16 No.252 +85
Junior wheelchair

Australia boasts six players inside the world’s top 20 in the latest ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour junior boys’ rankings.

Jin Woodman, a 15-year-old from Melbourne, leads the charge sitting at world No.4. He is set to compete in the US Open Junior Wheelchair Championships in New York in coming weeks alongside fellow top 10-ranked peers Yassin Hill and Benjamin Wenzel.

Isla Gillespie, the top-ranked Australian in the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour junior girls’ rankings at world No.10, is also set to make her Grand Slam debut at Flushing Meadows.

TOP AUSSIES
Player Age Rank Move
Jin Woodman 15 No.4 -1
Yassin Hill 17 No.5 0
Benjamin Wenzel 17 No.6 0
Sonny Rennison 12 No.15 0
Arlo Shawcross 16 No.16 0
Harrison Dudley 15 No.20 0

> RANKING MOVERS: Thompson, Purcell climb higher inside doubles top 20

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