USTA Northern Native Wins Australian Open Junior Boys' Doubles Title

Written by: Greg Sharko 

Minnesota native Max Exsted began the 2025 campaign by repeating his Australian Open junior boys' doubles title in Melbourne with new partner Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic. Exsted and Kumstat defeated Ognjen Milic of Serbia, Egor Pleshivtsev of Russia, 7-6 (8), 6-3, in the championship, saving five first-set points.

The 17-year-old Savage resident and Kumstat were the No. 2 seeds in the draw. It was the second tournament they played together after a runner-up showing at Traralgon the week prior to the Australian Open. Last year he won the title with American Cooper Woestendick and the duo went on to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the semifinals at Wimbledon.

"I mean it feels great to win back-to-back years and it's a big accomplishment," said Exsted, who is the first junior doubles repeat champion since Aussie Bradley Mousley in 2013-14. "It was a long, long week. We had a lot of tough matches, but really happy that we got it done. Not many players have done it, and I think, just defending the title, it feels really good. I'm happy that we got the title."

The road to the title was not easy for Exsted and Kumat as they won three of their matches in three sets, including a 6-7(6) 6-2
11-9 (Match Tie-break) quarterfinal victory over Americans Noah Johnston and Benjamin Willwerth. They saved two match points in the Match Tie-break. In the semifinals they rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the Match Tie-break against Andrea De Marchi of Italy and William Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden before prevailing 6-3 6-7(2) 10-8. They also came back from a set down in the first round to win in a Match Tie-break 2-6 6-3 10-2 over Romanians Alejandro Mateo Berge Nourescu and Stefan Horia Haita.

"I think it was a really special week," said Exsted. "There were lots of tight, tight matches. I just think that we really fought hard, and we played well in the pressure moments, and I think that's what you got to do. You have to be brave and play your game and see what happens."

Exsted said he gradually adapted playing with his new partner. "Cooper and I have always been pretty close friends, and Jan, you know, we didn't really know each other too well. We've obviously seen each other at a lot of tournaments, knew each other as good players, but it was a challenge, with him speaking good English but not great. I think the more matches that we played, the more we got to know each other and know how we play and how our emotions are on the court. I think playing the warm-up tournament helped and the more matches we played, the better we felt."