There is unlikely to be a more motivated player in the boys' draw of the 2025 Australian Open Junior Championships than Czechia's Jan Kumstat.

The 18-year-old was defeated in last year's final as Japan's Rei Sakamoto became the first Japanese player to win the boys' title at the Australian Open. 

It was a bitter pill for Kumstat to swallow, while a shoulder injury and pneumonia that kept him out of Roland Garros and the US Open.

“I want to win a Grand Slam this year, I was second here last year,” said Kumstat, who will take his place in round three of this year's championships after dispatching home favourite Cruz Hewitt 6-3, 7-6(7).

The first set was done in a flash. However, the first thing to notice about the tall Czech is that he has grown in the past 12 months since he was just two points from winning that boys' final.

“I have grown I think five or six centimetres, I’m now 198 or 199cm,” he said.

A tight second set was determined by the narrowest of margins with Kumstat breaking a string in his racket to go set-point down in the tie-break.

“It’s my bad because I didn’t change it for the new balls,” he said, “I took an old racket and I got lucky the next three points.”

Meanwhile, playing and practising at the USTA headquarters in Florida means that humidity is generally not a big deal for 16-year-old Jack Kennedy.

“I am from New York originally, but I train lot in Florida so I am used to it,” said the boy with the historic name.

Familiarity with the weather is just as well, Melbourne being unusually humid as week two of the Australian Open got under way with Kennedy and Morocco’s Karim Bennani first out on court.

Both boys were playing their first Australian Open Junior Championships. Bennani is one year older at 17 but comes with a physique of someone considerably more mature, yet was contesting just his second main draw at a Junior Grand Slam.

Kennedy has now completed all the majors and moves into round three after his 7-5 7-5 victory.

“I have had many friends say great things about Australia and I understand why now," he said. "This is my fourth (Junior Grand Slam) and completes all my Slams. I played an Aussie in the first round - they were shouting for him - but it was a pretty cool atmosphere to play in.

“I know Bennani from previous tournaments and knew it wasn’t going to be easy. At some moments at key points (today), I was able to play a little bit better.”

Kennedy slipped momentarily and quickly, from 2-0 up to 2-3 down in the second set, but a mental re-think soon steadied the ship and brought him home. 

“Going up 2-0, you kind of think ‘I can win this match' and you can see the finish line and that’s where juniors tend to lose focus and engagement. The pros rarely lose that. 

“After going down 3-2 my coach and everyone in my box was just like, ‘reset and take your time'. If you keep playing, you are going to keep all that emotion and anger in you so re-setting your mind is a big thing and helped me get through the match.”

Being seeded 4 brings an expectation, but Kennedy is not fazed.

“It's that reminder in the back of your head but it’s just a number, so I go out there and play my game. I don’t think about that too much. I’m enjoying it very much, that’s the main part.”

A full list of results from the 2025 Australian Open Junior Championships is available here.