Kiwi junior falls at last hurdle

New Zealands top junior tennis player, Ajeet Rai (New Plymouth) has fallen at the final hurdle in the lead up tournament to the Junior Australian Open.

Rai and Dutch doubles partner, Ryan Nijboer reached the final of the Traralgon International in Melbourne but eventually lost to the Italian pair of Francesco Forti and Mattia Frinzi 7-6(6) 7-6(7).

Fellow Kiwi Finn Reynolds from Hawkes Bay made the second round of the doubles draw with his South African partner Joshua Howard-Tripp.

Both Rai, the New Zealand national junior champion and Reynolds the national finalist both lost in the first round of the singles draw at Traralgon and will now compete in the main draw of the Australian Open Junior tournament starting on Saturday.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from New Zealand Tennis