Sesko and Efremova Claim Australian Open Junior Singles Titles

The Australian Open Junior Championships concluded Sunday in Melbourne with Ziga Sesko of Slovenia and Ksenia Efremova of France coming through tight battles to earn their first junior slam titles.

In the boys final, No. 7 seed Sesko became the first Slovenia boy to win a junior slam singles title, coming back to defeat No. 4 seed Keaton Hance of the United States 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Hance took the opening set after getting a second break of serve for a 3-2 lead and holding to close out the opening set. Hance was not getting many first serves in but he was returning well and winning rallies behind his second serve.

Sesko picked up his game in the second set, got his forehand under control and came from 0-30 down serving at 1-1 to find a higher level. He continued to serve well, and kept Hance playing defense, with his winner count by the match's end nearly twice that of Hance at 32 to 17.

Sesko finally broke Hance to take a 4-2 lead, but he needed to save a break point serving for the set, which he did with a forehand winner, to close out the second set 6-3.

The third set began with Sesko maintaining his level from the second set, and he broke Hance for a 3-1 lead. Hance held and then broke back, with Sesko playing a rare poor game serving at  3-2, but Hance dropped his next service game at love. Sesko held quickly for a 5-3 lead but Hance wasn't ready to concede, saving two match points in his service game with a forehand winner and a good first serve to put the pressure back on Sesko. 

Sesko was up to the task, starting with an ace and ending with a good first serve that Hance shanked high in the air, with a few seconds passing before it bounced well out and the electronic line calling recorded voice made the call. 

The two 17-year-olds embraced at the net, and the crowd in the Rod Laver Arena was generous in their applause after an entertaining final.

Sesko is the first player traveling with the ITF's Grand Slam Player Development Touring Team to win a junior slam title since Ricardas Berankis in 2007.

In the girls final, which was first up on Rod Laver Arena, No. 3 seed Ksenia Efremova of France prevailed over unseeded Ekaterina Tupitsyna of Russia 6-3, 7-5, with the match a study in contrasting styles.

Statistics don't always tell the story of a match, but in this case provide some insight, although intangibles and physical issues also played a role.

Efremova hit only five winners and made 18 unforced errors, while Tupitsyna struck 21 winners and made 45 unforced errors.

Although Efremova is a year younger, the 16-year-old, born in Russia but now representing France, has much more experience at the highest level of junior tennis. She has been touted as a future star since the 12s, trains at the Mouratoglou Academy and was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne as a 14-year-old in 2024. 

Tupitsyna had not won a match in her only other two junior slam appearances last year, and that may have been a factor in her slow start. She quickly fell behind 4-0, with Efremova simply keeping the rally going long enough for Tupitsyna to miss. 

But Tupitsyna held for 4-1 and began to find her form, with the pace and depth she had displayed all week putting her right back in the set. She got one break back and held a second time for 4-3, even earning a break point in Efremova's next service game. But Efremova, who made 72 percent of her first serves, held her advantage with a good first serve to make it 5-3 and then broke Tupitsyna from 40-15 up to claim the set.

After Tupitsyna took a bathrrom break, she came out firing, taking a 3-0, two-break lead with her power too much for Efremova. But after dropping serve after having a point for a 4-0 lead, Tupitsyna asked for a trainer and went off-court for nine minutes, returning with her left thigh heavily taped. 

She lost the next five games, with the injury obviously affecting her side to side movement, but Efremova couldn't serve out the match at 5-3. Tupitsyna made one last push, holding for 5-all, but Efremova did not panic, winning two key points serving at 30-all to take the 6-5 lead.

The next game also went to 30-all, but Tupitsyna made the error in a 22-shot rally and Efremova took her opportunity to end it on her first chance.

Efremova is just the second French girl to win the Australian Open girls title and the first since Virginie Razzano in 1999. She will rise to No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings with the title.