The 2014 December Showdown saw some outstanding results for ACT players. 11 year old Annerly Poulos became the first Canberran since Nick Kyrgios 2 years ago (18/u Nationals champion) to win a National Title by taking out the 12/u girls singles. Annerly defeated South Australian Natasha Russell 4-6, 6,2, 6,2 to clinch her first National Title. Annerly showed great determination, perseverance and composure to clinch the match, and said afterwards “this is my best win ever and I am really proud to have held my composure and finished the match off”. Annerly has been a National Academy ACT scholarship holder for the past 2 years and before that was coached for 3 years by Alun Jones. One of the most outstanding features of Annerly’s win was the fact that she was a year younger than most of her opponents and can play the event again in 2015 if she wants to! Congratulations to Annerly on this outstanding achievement.
ACT entered 3 teams in the National Teams Event. The best results coming from the 2 girls teams. The 14/u girls finished in 6th place (out of 10). The team of Chorlida Kang and Tallulah Farrow defeated Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia and won some clutch doubles matches to secure these ties. Also highly competitive was the 12/u girls led by Annerly and supported very well by Ashleigh Simes. The girls defeated several higher ranked and larger States before narrowly going down to China in the quarter-finals and finishing 8th out of 12 overall. In the 14/u boys the team of Luke Sarris and Jamieson Nathan were also highly competitive but could only beat Tasmania and finished in 9th position out of 10 teams. Thanks to the managers Nathan Price, Alun Jones and Todd Larkham.
In the latest Australian rankings, the ACT now has 4 girls in the top 10 in their age groups. Annerly Poulos is now ranked No.1 in Australia in her birth year (2003) and No.2 in Australia in the year above her. Also ranked inside the top 10 in her birth year (2003) is Ashleigh Simes. Tallulah Farrow (2001 birth year) has made some huge gains in the past 12 months to her ranking and her game, and is now No.5 in her age group. And now in her 11th year, Lejla Hajdar is currently ranked No.7 in Australia in her birth year. The future looks bright for Australian women’s tennis with these 4 young girls!
The month of January will see many ACT players competing in events around Australia. Leading the charge is ACT’s Nick Kyrgios who completed a tough training block over December at the brand new courts at Lyneham. Also competing is Alex Nancarrow. Alex is Canberra born and bred but bases herself in Spain. Alex is currently in the main draw doubles event at the Hobart International. There will also be a large group of ACT’s juniors competing in the Wodonga and Albury AMT and junior events whilst we wish the Canberra Velocity girls team all the in the National Finals during the 2nd week of the Australian Open.
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