Melbourne VIC, Australia, 1 December 2018 | Tennis Australia

The annual December Showdown began in scorching sunshine on the first day of summer at Melbourne Park on Saturday.

More than 500 of Australia’s top young athletes representing every state and territory will take to the courts between now and December 16.

The first day saw the opening round of action in the 14/u championships, and qualifying in the 18/u tournaments.

Live scoring from December Showdown

In the 14/u Girls draw, top seed Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz opened with a 6-2 6-1 win over Maddison Ricardo, while No.1 seed Edward Winter defeated Gareth Ong 6-1 6-0 in the 14/u Boys.

Both will return to action in the second round on Sunday.

The 12/u and 16/u tournaments get under way on December 11 and 12 respectively, while 16 Australian men and women will compete for a main-draw wildcard at the Australian Open 2019 Play-off from December 10.

For all December Showdown news, draws, scores and order of play please visit here.