With only one more JDS tournament to go before the top eight ranked players are chosen to compete at the Champions of Champions event in Grafton in November, Maxim Ceccato and Hendrix McDonagh stand at fifth and sixth position in the U10 age group.

Dylan Ceccato and Lylah Darcy are defending eighth position in the U12 boys and girls age groups, and Camden Ceccato and Madison Darcy are also in eighth position in the U14 divisions.

This is a great success for the juniors, especially Maxim and Hendrix, who have both finished runner-up in a tournament each.

The final tournament in Port Macquarie later this month will determine the overall ranking of the players.

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This year's country championships started with a special treat for the junior tournament players, with Lleyton Hewitt's sister, Jaslyn Hewitt-Shehadie, spending a full day at the Sporties Tennis Club.

Twenty players from each age group got a chance to practice at the clinic under the watchful eyes of the National Academy and Talent Development Manager.

At the end of the U10s session, Sporties' player Maxim Ceccato was awarded a special gift for being the player who showed the highest intensity on court.

To top the day off, former Australian Davis Cup player Sam Groth also visited the Sporties' courts for an autograph session.

On Monday, the first day of the junior tournament, the U10 competitors had to play their matches within their pool in a round robin format.

With four wins and one loss, Maxim progressed into the play-offs where he lost against an eventual semi-finalist in an exciting two-set match.

With his partner Hendrix he also played in the U10 doubles event, where the Sporties' boys convincingly won two matches in their pool but unfortunately missed out on the play-offs by one spot.

In the U12 and U14 age groups, Madison, Dylan and Camden bowed out in their early rounds against very tough competition.

However, Dylan Ceccato and his doubles partner made it into the quarter-finals where they lost against the eventual runner-up.

Coaches Danny Biancardi and Ariane Ceccato were extremely proud of the young group of players who have only intensified their training and match play over the last couple of years.

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