MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� Swiss player Henry Bernet gave himself a fairly impressive 18th birthday present Saturday and said he'd taken inspiration from countrymen Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka following his 6-3, 6-4 win over American Benjamin Willwerth in the junior boys final.
Bernet said he met Federer for the first time last year at the U.S. Open while he has practiced with Wawrinka as the pair share the same management team. Bernet recently announced he had recruited Severin Luthi, the long-time coach of Federer, ending his partnership with current coach Kai Stentenbach.
鈥淚 have to thank my coach, this is actually our last trip and I think it鈥檚 pretty much the happy ending we deserve,鈥� Bernet said as he received his trophy on Rod Laver Arena. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be standing here without you as you gave me the belief I could win one of these big tournaments, so thank you very much.鈥�
beat top-seeded Jan Kumstat in the quarterfinals and Finland鈥檚 Oskari Paldanius in the semifinals while 17-year-old Willwerth defeated fellow American Jagger Leach in three sets in the semifinals.
In the junior girls final, Japan's Wakana Sonobe beat American Kristina Penickova 6-0, 6-1 to improve on her runner-up finish at last year's U.S. Open. Sonobe had defeated the home favorite 鈥� and junior world No. 1 Emerson Jones 鈥� 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals at Melbourne Park.
The 15-year-old Penickova won the girls doubles title on Friday with her twin sister Annika, beating Jones and Britain鈥檚 Hannah Klugman 6-4, 6-2.
In the boys doubles final, Max Exsted of the United States and Czech Jan Kumstat had a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory over Egor Pleshivtsev and Ognjen Milic of Serbia. It was Exsted鈥檚 second Grand Slam boys鈥� doubles title following his win in Melbourne in 2024 with fellow American Cooper Woestendick.
___
More AP tennis:
The Associated Press
