This December, Australia’s best junior players are competing for national honours at the Australian Junior Championships in Launceston.
Formerly known as the December Showdown, this tournament has helped some of Australia’s current players on their pathway to the elite level.
READ: National junior champions crowned in Launceston
In December 2011 and 2012, Australian Tennis Magazine previewed the event, highlighting a series of players who were destined to become the next crop of Australian stars.
Here are some of the players who were listed and how they have fared since.
2011
Storm Hunter (nee Sanders), 17, Western Australia
ATM said: A finalist in the Optus 16s Australian Championships in 2009, Sanders will be bolstered by steady 2011 progress, including her first WTA ranking points.
Hunter has become one of Australia’s most accomplished women’s doubles players of the 21st century.
She has won nine WTA doubles titles and is one of only three Australians, alongside Rennae Stubbs and Sam Stosur, to become WTA doubles world No.1. The 31-year-old achieved the feat after reaching the final four of the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico.
Despite being sidelined for 10 months with an Achilles injury suffered in April 2024, Hunter remains one of Australia’s best-performing doubles players, currently ranked as Australian No.2.
Hunter has also led by example for her country, winning 13 of her 17 Billie Jean King Cup rubbers across singles and doubles since debuting in 2021.
Andrew Harris, 17, Victoria
ATM said: Winner of the Optus 16s Australian Championships in 2010, Harris was a runner-up at several ITF junior events in Asia in 2011, placing him inside the world’s junior top 20 by season’s end.
A two-time Grand Slam junior doubles champion in 201, Harris had already built the foundations to excel at senior level.
The 31-year-old achieved a career-high doubles ranking of world No.84 in October 2023, winning seven Challenger crowns throughout his 14-year professional career.
Harris’ crowning achievement was advancing to the semifinals of the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2024 with compatriot Jaimee Fourlis.
That would be his final Grand Slam appearance after he competed in his last tournament in Houston in April 2024. Since retiring, Harris has begun various coaching projects with the likes of James Duckworth and Alex Bolt.
2012
Kimberly Birrell, 14, Queensland
ATM said: A member of the National Academy in Brisbane but also coached by her father, John, who is the manager of the Queens Park Tennis Centre on the Gold Coast, Birrell is known for her ability from the back of the court and a fierce tenacity that will almost certainly yield bigger results at a higher level.
Birrell recently helped Australia top its group in the Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs in Hobart, winning her rubbers against Portugal’s Matilde Jorge and Brazilian Nauhany Leme Da Silva.
The 27-year-old has enjoyed a career-best season in 2025, which has resulted in her first Newcombe Medal nomination.
Birrell made her top-100 debut prior to Australian Open 2025 after a surprise quarterfinal run at the Brisbane International. This included a triumph over world No.8 Emma Navarro in the second round, the biggest win of her career.
Lizette Cabrera, 15, Queensland
ATM said: A baseliner who tends to thrive on fast hard courts, Cabrera will arrive at the December Showdown with high hopes for success.
Cabrera had her best season in four years in 2025, winning a combined 49 matches and four titles at ITF level.
The Queenslander went on a 16-match unbeaten singles run between February and April, which saw her claim trophies in Launceston, Mildura and Swan Hill.
This year also marked the first time since 2022 that Cabrera competed in qualifying at all four Slams.
Cabrera has maintained consistency since she became a full-time pro in 2016, keeping her year-end ranking inside the WTA top 300 for nine of her 10 seasons. She has also competed in the main draw of six Grand Slams, with her most recent appearance being at AO 2021.
Priscilla Hon, 14, Queensland
ATM said: A sturdy competitor, the ambitious Hon shows impressive resolve in finding a way to navigate the most challenging situations.
The Queenslander once feared that she would never play tennis again after a labrum injury in 2020, so bad it was likened to that of a motorcycle accident victim.
However, five years later, Hon has just enjoyed a career-best season. The 27-year-old won 37 singles matches this year, which contributed to the first WTA top-100 berth of her career.
Hon qualified for Wimbledon for the first time in seven attempts, and at the US Open she defeated world No.20 Liudmila Samsonova to reach the third round for the first time.
She capped off her season with her first Newcombe Medal nomination, having been nominated three times for Female Junior Athlete of the Year in previous years.
Destanee Aiava, 12, Victoria
ATM said: Aiava capitalised beautifully when she was selected as the Australian representative at the increasingly prestigious Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament at Roland Garros and then claimed that title without dropping a set. It earned the opportunity to play alongside Steffi Graf and considerable praise from the Grand Slam legend. No doubt it's also fired up Aiava, who is known for her speed, physicality and a natural determination for even bigger achievements.
Aiava was one of Australia’s most promising juniors, becoming the first player born in the 21st century to win a WTA main-draw match, doing so against American Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the Brisbane International in January 2017.
She was also the first of her millennium to make her Grand Slam debut a month later at AO 2017, losing in two tight sets to German Mona Barthel. Five major main-draw appearances and eight years later, Aiava emerged victorious, coming from a set and 5-2 down against Greet Minnen at AO 2025 to prevail 5-7 7-5 7-6[10-5].
The 25-year-old has won 10 singles titles and 16 doubles titles, including seven in 2023. She also holds career-high singles and doubles rankings within the top 150.
Nick Kyrgios, 17, Australian Capital Territory
ATM said: Some have compared a game that's based around some big weapons in his serve and forehand to that of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Physical development is still a requirement but at age 17, there's clearly a bright future for the exciting competitor.
Known for being Australia’s human highlight reel, Kyrgios’ time on the professional circuit has been nothing short of entertaining. Despite being plagued by injury in recent years, the 30-year-old has proven that he is capable of defeating anyone on his best day.
He, alongside Lleyton Hewitt, is one of two Australians to have defeated the Big Three – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Kyrgios also stole a set from Djokovic in their Wimbledon 2022 final, where he became the first Australian male since Hewitt at AO 2005 to reach a Slam final.
The Canberran has tasted Grand Slam success on the doubles court, winning the AO 2022 men’s doubles title with longtime friend Thanasi Kokkinakis.
MORE: Special K's claim Australian Open 2022 men's doubles title
Kyrgios boasts career-high rankings inside the top 15 for singles and doubles, highlighting his all-around prowess.
Marc Polmans, 15, Victoria
ATM said: The sturdy counterpuncher is a great competitor, and well worth watching as he sets about his long-term goal of emulating idol Rafael Nadal with Grand Slam success and a top-10 ranking.
An Australian Open junior doubles champion – he won in 2015 with fellow Aussie Jake Delaney – Polmans has carried his strong form at Melbourne Park into his senior career.
Despite not having won a professional Australian Open doubles crown, Polmans is a four-time semifinalist – men’s doubles in 2017 and mixed doubles in 2021, 2023 and 2024. His 2017 campaign earned him a maiden ATP top-100 berth, rising from world No.250 to world No.78 as a result.
Polmans achieved a career-high doubles ranking of world No.68 in October of that year, after reaching ATP quarterfinals in Umag and Washington. The 28-year-old has won 21 doubles titles and 15 singles titles since making his professional debut in 2012.
Omar Jasika, 15, Victoria
ATM said: The National Academy scholarship holder has gained a fine-tuned appreciation of the hard work and travel that accompanies life as a top tennis professional player, with his 20-plus tournaments for 2012 taking him to Asia, Europe, and many parts of Australia. A lefty with oodles of natural skill to develop, Jasika is an exciting young player to watch.
Jasika successfully qualified for his first Grand Slam in seven years at Australian Open 2024, ultimately foreshadowing a new era for the 28-year-old. The Victorian won seven singles titles that season and also went on a 27-match winning streak from August to October. This saw Jasika peak at a career-high ranking of world No.177 in November of that year.
Jasika continues to make progress, featuring at all four Grand Slams in some capacity in 2025. He received a main-draw wildcard at Melbourne Park, where he lost in four sets to Frenchman Hugo Gaston, while he competed in qualifying at the remaining majors.
Alex de Minaur, 13, New South Wales
ATM said: A scholarship holder at the National Academy in Sydney, De Minaur has long been considered a young player to watch and has made many improvements since returning to Australia from Spain with his family.
Since Ash Barty’s retirement, De Minaur has been Australia’s highest-ranked singles player. With his speed and never-say-die attitude the trademarks of his game, the world No.7 has embodied the Australian spirit throughout his decade-long career.
In the past two years, the 26-year-old has begun challenging the sport’s top echelon, most notably defeating world No.1 Djokovic at the United Cup in January 2024. De Minaur is also edging closer to a maiden Grand Slam semifinal, having reached the final eight five times in his last seven majors.
LISTEN: Alex de Minaur on The Sit-Down
In September, the two-time ATP Finals participant levelled Mark Woodforde for the fourth-most ties played for the Culture Amp Australian Davis Cup team with 24. He has previously helped Australia to consecutive Davis Cup finals in 2022 and 2023.
More in our 'Where are they now?' series
> December Showdown Class of 2009 and 2010