Mildura, Australia, 25 February 2013 | Tennis Australia

Australia’s 2013 junior grasscourt champions were decided on the weekend at the 12s and 14s National Grasscourt Championships at Mildura Lawn Tennis Club in north-western Victoria, alongside the Mildura Grand International Australian Pro Tour event.

The six-day tournament saw 245 athletes compete for the first national titles of the year and the only junior titles played on natural grass.

New South Welshman [5] Rinky Hijikata (Willoughby, NSW) was crowned the 12s boys’ champion after he defeated [8] Sam May (Colonel Light Gardens, SA) 6-2 7-5 in Sunday’s final.

Hijikata defeated the No.2 seed Connor Di Marco (Mill Park, Vic) and No.3 seed Codey Gunn (Narre Warren, Vic) on his way to his crown, while May dismissed the top seed Stefan Norodom (Kidman Park, SA) for a berth in the last round.

Victoria’s Jessica Zaviacic (Melbourne, Vic) collected the 12s girls’ title over second seed Kyra Yap (Balmoral, Qld) 6-1 6-2.

The 14s National Grasscourt Championships saw No.1 seed Alex De Minaur (Lidcombe, NSW) victorious in the boys’ draw. De Minaur was pushed early by qualifier Daniel Hobart (Port Pirie, SA), coming back from a first set loss to win the title 3-6 6-3 6-1.

South Australia’s Nicole Kraemer also saw success, defeating [6] Gabrielle O’Gorman (Gunnedah, NSW) in three sets 2-6 6-2 6-4 to win her first national title of her junior career.

Kramer had upset top seed Sasha Bollweg (Parkwood, WA) in the previous round 6-1 7-5.

[1] Connor Di Marco (Mill Park, Vic) and Stefan Norodom (Kidman Park, SA) eventually saw success wining the boys’ 12s doubles title while [2] Jessica Zaviacic and Gabriella Da Silva-Fick (Sydney, NSW) won the 12s girls’ event.

In the 14s age group, [5] Matthew Romios (Pascoe Vale South, Vic) and Jamie Sekulovski (Lalor, Victoria) tasted victory, as did top seeded South Australian girls’ pair Petra Hule (Flagstaff Hill, SA) and Nicole Kraemer (Hallet Cove, SA).

The next big event on the Junior Tour calendar is the 2013 12s and 14s National Claycourt Championships taking place at the George Alder Tennis Centre in Ipswich, Queensland in April.