Australia juniors wrap up second BNP Paribas World Team Cup victory

Australia clinched their second BNP Paribas World Team Cup junior title on Sunday, earning a 2-1 victory over top seeds Great Britain as the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event drew to a close in Vilamoura, Portugal.

Sixteen year-old Riley Dumsday, who was also 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 Cruyff Foundation Junior Wheelchair Tennis Ranking for boys, levelled the contest for Great Britain with an equally dominant performance that also ended in a 6-1 6-1 victory over Saalim Naser.

For the third World Team Cup in a row, 2007 and 2013 champions Great Britain went into a junior final deciding doubles contest hoping to emerge as champions.

In 2019 Great Britain had championship points in a match tie-break that decided the doubles and the title before Australia won the tie-break 14-12.

But, having taken a 4-2 lead in the second set of the doubles this year, Andrew Penney and Ward were unable to sustain their attack and Dumsday and Naser put the seal on a 6-1 6-4 win to the delight of their Australian supporters.

“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, who came into this week’s World Team Cup as the third ranked member of his team, is now a double world champion. He 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 tie-break in 2019.”

In 2019 Dumsday partnered Finn Broadbent to victory in the doubles match tie-break. Three years on and Broadbent, now 20, was among the fans watching the live stream and supporting the Australian team from afar.