Abbi fights hard at junior showdown

Albany tennis star Abbi Gibson missed out on bringing home a title from last month’s December Showdown, Australia’s major junior tournament, after losing the doubles final in the 12-and-under girls’ division at Melbourne Park.

Abbi qualified to compete at the national tournament in both the 12s and 14s age groups, and was most successful in the 12s doubles, partnering Lily Fairclough.

The pair breezed through the first two rounds before defeating Tianyu Dong and Anja Nayar, 7-5 6-3, to reach the semifinals.

After a walkover win in the semifinal, Abbi and Lily came up against Jessie Culley and No.1 seed Hana Sonton in the final but went down 6-1 6-4.

In the 12s main drawn singles event, Abbi reached the third round after beating Emma Xu in straight sets before being knocked out by Ke Ren, 6-4 6-4.

Gibson made the second round of the 14s girls’ singles but went down to No.14 seed Ayaka Koga after a marathon three-set match, 6-4 3-6 3-6.

Teaming with Saanvi Tak in the 14s girls’ doubles, the pair were knocked out in the opening round.

The 12-year-old is now at the Brixton/Kalamunda Tennis Summer Junior Open before she lines up in the Perth Open and Nedlands AMT and Junior Classic later this month.