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Fourteen-year-old Jensi Kanabar has announced her arrival on the world junior tennis stage by creating history at the 2026 Australian Open Asia-Pacific Elite 14 & Under Trophy. The teenager became the first Indian girl to capture the U14 Australian Open title, producing a remarkable comeback victory in the final at Melbourne Park.
Up against Australia’s Musemma Cilek and playing in front of a partisan home crowd, Kanabar showed exceptional composure. After dropping the opening set 3-6 and trailing 0-2 in the second, she regrouped, lifted her intensity, and turned the contest around to seal a memorable 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win.
Kanabar’s championship run was built on consistency and dominance from the outset. She topped Group A with three straight victories, beginning with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Nepal’s Shivali Gurung, followed by a 7-5, 6-4 success against China’s Jinyu Zhou. She then completed the group stage in emphatic fashion with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of New Zealand’s Jocelyn Ke.
In the semi-finals, Kanabar produced another assured display against Japan’s Aoi Yoshida, edging a tight first-set tiebreak before closing out the match 7-6(3), 6-2 to reach the final.
The Asia-Pacific Elite 14 & Under Trophy, introduced in 2020 through a partnership between the Asian Tennis Federation and Tennis Australia, has become an important pathway event for emerging talent in the region. While India celebrated a boys’ champion in 2024 with Arnav Paparkar, Kanabar’s triumph marks the country’s first title on the girls’ side of the competition.
Hailing from Junagadh, Gujarat, Kanabar is regarded as one of India’s brightest young prospects. She has already climbed to No.1 in the AITA Girls Under-14 and Under-16 rankings and has also entered the national women’s singles rankings despite her young age.
Her growing list of achievements includes winning the GSPDP Asian Under-14 Junior Championship in Manila in 2025, a result that opened doors to elite junior tournaments in the United States.
With her historic success in Melbourne, Jensi Kanabar has taken another significant step forward in her career, reinforcing her status as a rising star and offering exciting hope for the future of Indian women’s tennis.
