Sesko becomes first Slovenian boy to reach Junior Grand Slam final
Around 11pm on Sunday 1 February, Slovenia's Ziga Sesko and his mum Sacha and younger brother will board a plane to take them home.
Departure will be about six hours after Sesko has contested the 2026 Australian Open boys' final against Keaton Hance of the United States.
He would like to hang around and watch the men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, but Sesko has a more pressing date.
“I’m in Slovenia's Davis Cup squad to play Turkey [in a tie which gets underway on Friday],’ he said.
There is a Slovenia group meeting on Sunday but Sesko will be otherwise occupied on Rod Laver Arena, bidding to become the first Slovenian boy to win a Junior Grand Slam final.
Incidentally, he is the third Slovenian player to reach a Junior Grand Slam singles final. Mima Jausovec finished runner-up in the Roland Garros girls’ singles in 1972 before winning titles at Roland Garros in 1973 and Wimbledon in 1974. Katarina Srebotnik, meanwhile, won the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon in 1998 and finished runner-up at the 1998 US Open.
Sesko is also in the Melbourne as part of the ITF-operated Grand Slam Player Development Programme Touring Team. Should he lift silverware here, he will become the first member of the Touring Team to win a Junior Grand Slam singles title since Ricardas Berankis in 2007.
Sesko is not a player anyone would bet against right now. He admitted that his 6-3 6-3 semi-final victory over Japan’s Ryo Tabata, a previous member of the Touring Team, was reasonably straightforward.
“I was hoping it would be like this,” said Sesko, who had done his homework alongside his coach and dad.
“We analysed his matches and I knew him from before. We are great friends, we travelled a lot together with the Touring Team.
“I knew I need to play aggressive because he's a great, great player. He runs a lot, he brings a lot of balls back and I knew I needed to push through him. I did a good job, I think.”
Sesko confirmed that playing on Margaret Court Arena was a revelation.
“It’s the biggest stadium I’ve ever played in," he said. "They closed the roof so it was even more special, the noise was even louder. The spectators, the cheering, were even louder, so it was a special feeling."
Hance, who defeated Kazakhstan’s Zangar Nurlanuly 6-3 6-2 in the other semi-final, will be no pushover in tomorrow's final and, for complication, they are also friends.
“We actually warmed up together for our matches," said Sesko. "We did it two days in a row, yesterday and today. I'm happy for him. We're good friends.
“I'm looking forward to the match, to play on Rod Laver Arena. It's a dream for every kid to play there. I'm very excited.”
A full list of results from the 2026 Australian Open Junior Championships is available here.