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Aussie kids win world wheelchair tennis

3 minute read

Australian wheelchair tennis youngsters have followed in the world-beating tracks of Dylan Alcott, winning the ITF's World Team Cup junior title in Portugal.

DYLAN ALCOTT of Australia.
DYLAN ALCOTT of Australia. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images.

Australia's teenage wheelchair tennis stars have clinched their second World Team Cup junior title.

The youngsters earned a 2-1 victory over top seeds Great Britain as the ITF's flagship team event drew to a close in Vilamoura, Portugal, on Sunday.

Sixteen year-old Riley Dumsday, a member of the Australian team that beat Great Britain in the 2019 final in Israel, earned the early lead for his team this year, defeating Joshua Johns 6-1 6-1 in the first singles rubber.

Dahnon Ward, also 16 and currently ranked No. 3 in the boys' world rankings, levelled the contest for GB with an equally dominant performance that also ended in a 6-1 6-1 victory over Saalim Naser.

It set up a repeat of the 2019 event in which GB had championship points in a match tiebreak that decided the doubles and the title, before Australia went on to grab victory by 14-12.

This time, Dumsday and Naser comfortably defeated Andrew Penney and Ward to take a 6-1 6-4 win.

"It's been an amazing experience, so I'm very happy and feeling like the champions that we are," said 17-year-old Naser.

Dumsday, now a double world champion, said: "It was amazing to share the experience with a new teammate and to have him on board, and also a lot of relief from the pressure of going to the deciding match tiebreak in 2019."

In 2019 Dumsday partnered Finn Broadbent to victory in the doubles match tiebreak.

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