Ziga Sesko has become the first Slovenian to win a junior boys’ singles Grand Slam title with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Keaton Hance at Australian Open 2026.
“Winning a grand slam is, I think, what every kid is dreaming of,” Sesko said.
“To be able to actually achieve it … I don't even feel it now, but I'm sure tomorrow or later on I will feel very, very special,” he said with a smile.
The 17-year-old lost the first set but wrested momentum back halfway through the second with a perfect cross-court volley to break Hance’s serve, one of the Slovenian’s 32 winners.
Sesko later faced a break point against him, but fended the American off and held serve to close out the second set.
A double fault from Hance handed Sesko a break point early in the decider, which the Slovenian duly accepted.
Hance later broke back, but that was cancelled out by Sesko immediately with yet another break of his own.
Hance saved two match points against him on serve to keep the Slovenian at bay, but Sesko stayed the course on his own serve to take out the championship.
Asked what it mean to be Slovenia’s first junior boys’ singles major winner, Sesko admitted he “didn’t even know”.
“I’m trying to… know as [little] as possible. I also didn't use my phone in the last couple of days.”
Wise and articulate beyond his 17 years, he said he “got a lot of notifications” from friends back home but was “not replying to many of them” because he wanted to remain laser-focused on the tournament.
“I will for sure reply to all of [the notifications] now,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m very thankful for the support.”
The fans inside Rod Laver Arena lauded both players’ clean ball striking, but it was Sesko’s ability to hold his nerve in the big moments that stood out, winning 57 per cent of break points to the American’s 38 per cent.
The Slovenian’s dominance at the net was another, winning 77 per cent of his net points to Hance’s 59 per cent.
“I would say that's the point of my game,” Sesko said about his front-footed approach. “I really like to go forward a lot because I play an aggressive style, and I would say I have a pretty good volley.
“That is paying off in the matches.”
Hailing from Hrastnik, a small town in central Slovenia of about 10,000 people, Sesko started playing tennis at a local club with his father, who was a table tennis player.
He was in red-hot form on his way to the final, besting second seed Luis Miguel in the quarterfinals and third seed Ryo Tabata in the final four.
The talented youngster said the plan before the season was to “play mostly professional tournaments this year”.
“But after winning a Grand Slam, I dunno, we will need to make a new plan,” he said.
And how will he celebrate his victory?
He has a flight booked Sunday night to join his country’s Davis Cup team ahead of Friday’s tie against Turkiye.