Minnesota’s Max Exsted wins another junior doubles title at the Australian Open

Minnesotan Max Exsted is back for more in Melbourne.

The 17-year-old from Savage won his second Australian Open junior boys doubles title in a row on Friday, successfully defending last year’s victory. Exsted and his new partner, Jan Kumstat of Czechia, cruised through the boys doubles draw as the No. 2 seed.

The win comes after a strong 2024 season for Exsted, who also made the quarterfinals of the French Open and the semifinals of Wimbledon in the boys doubles draw.

Exsted and Kumstat took 1 hour, 11 minutes to down their championship challengers, Egor Pleshivtsev of Russia and Ognjen Milic of Serbia, in a 7-6 (8), 6-3 triumph. Exsted and Kumstat faced some friction in the first set, struggling to break away after suffering an early break that put them down 3-1.

They pushed back against a strong eight first-set aces from Pleshivtsev and Milic to force the tiebreaker, which Exsted and Kumstat took before sailing in the second set to win the match.

“It’s really important, and another step towards where you want to go,” Exsted told the Australian Open website after the victory.

The duo’s path to the championship included a victory over the all-American No. 8 pair of Noah Johnston and Benjamin Willwerth and the No. 7 seed Andrea de Marchi of Italy and William Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden.

In singles play, Exsted fell earlier in the week in the second round to Milic. Exsted is ranked No. 12 among junior boys, and is quickly becoming one of the world’s top junior tennis players.

From practicing with Rafael Nadal to having formerly hit a No. 1 ranking in the 16-and-under category, Exsted is still on his way up.

“My goals have always been to win Grand Slams, be No. 1, definitely winning the U.S. Open is probably my biggest goal,” Exsted told the Minnesota Star Tribune last year. “It would be amazing.”