Melbourne, Australia, 12 December 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Musemma Cilek is among the rising stars progressing to the girls’ singles quarterfinals at the 12-and-under Australian Junior Tour Masters.

The 12-year-old Victorian sealed her spot with a 6-3 6-2 victory today against New South Wales’ Aleksija Vujcic at Melbourne Park.

It is Cilek’s third consecutive straight-sets win this week, helping her finish atop of her group in the round-robin stage.

“It’s been fun,” Cilek said of her December Showdown experience so far. “You get to see people from other states who you don’t get to see every day.”

Cilek, who lives in Deer Park and trains regularly at Melbourne Park, is now set to face Emma Esenova from New South Wales for a place in the semifinals.

“It’s nice to compete against other people from across the country,” Cilek said.

“Sometimes you think ‘I have to be the best in my state’, but it’s also nationally and internationally.”

As Cilek chases national glory, her goal this week is to simply ‘compete well’.

“I just like competing,” explained Cilek, who names Serena Williams as her biggest inspiration as ‘she’s very competitive and fierce’.

“I’ve loved competing from a young age, in anything not just tennis.

“I like tennis because you’re alone and it’s an individual sport, which makes it even more competitive.”

> FOLLOW: Live scores from the 2023 December Showdown

12/U AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR TOUR MASTERS

TODAY’S RESULTS
Girls’ singles, round-robin
[1] Eleni Makantasis (Vic) d Tea Zizek (WA) 6-0 6-2
[2] Hannah Park (SA) d Mariam Elagaty (Vic) 6-1 6-0
[3] Ami Dalla Pozza (NSW) d Amaya Muench (Qld) 6-1 6-1
[4] Musemma Cilek (Vic) d Aleksija Vujcic (NSW) 6-3 6-2
[5] Mieka Gordon-Threatt (Vic) d Licia Wang (SA) 6-2 6-2
[6] Isabel Cairns (ACT) d Kana Tamura (Vic) 6-0 6-1
[8] Nahla Salley (SA) d Zoe Liang (NSW) 6-0 6-0
[9] Ana Maric (Vic) d Lily Fannin (Qld) 6-3 6-1
[10] Cleo Taylor (Qld) d Jesline Lie (NSW) 6-1 6-1
[11] Danica Todorovic (Qld) d Seerat Gaba (NSW) 6-1 6-2
[12] Emma Esenova (NSW) d Eadie Biggs (Qld) 6-1 6-4
[13] Plyushi Bandara (ACT) d Talia Mirzayeva (Vic) 6-1 6-1
[14] Ava Garner (Qld) d Wanda Bacskai (Vic) 6-1 6-1
[16] Hope Johns (Qld) d Mia di Stefano (Vic) 6-1 6-0
Amelia Hilton (WA) d [7] Yana Pchelintseva (Vic) 6-3 ret.
Esther Meng (Vic) d [15] Emma Eckstein (Qld) 6-7(2) 7-5 [10-5]

COMING UP
Girls singles, quarterfinals
[1] Eleni Makantasis (Vic) v [6] Isabel Cairns (ACT)
[2] Hannah Park (SA) v [10] Cleo Taylor (Qld)
[3] Ami Dalla Pozza (NSW) v [9] Ana Maric (Vic)
[4] Musemma Cilek (Vic) v [12] Emma Esenova (NSW)

> VIEW: 12/u Australian Junior Tour Masters draws

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