*Under 18 Singles Handicap Tournament 2023

There was an excellent entry of 25 juniors for the 2023 National Junior Handicap Singles event, held at the Wellington court. These young players came from a wide variety of clubs right across the country.

The 13 youngsters with the highest handicaps played on Saturday in the “B” competition which was won by Sam Smith (Wellington) who defeated Felicity Riddall Bell (Cambridge) in the final. For many of them, it was their first taste of tournament play and there were many close-fought matches.

In the main competition, the top 12 juniors also played some excellent tennis with nearly every match going close, which is always a good sign in a handicap event. After 2 very close-fought semi-finals, Katherine Carney (Oratory) and Ruben Kirby (Wellington) went through to play in the Final. In the final, there was plenty of forcing from both players with Ruben just coming through to lift the coveted trophy.

Prizes were presented by Paul Weaver (T&RA Director of Junior Tennis and Dedanists’ Foundation Ambassador). He took the opportunity to thank the T&RA and the Dedanists’ Foundation for their continued support of this important junior event and for everything they do for Junior Tennis.