Lucia shows her class on the national stage

Lucia Gale won a national mixed doubles title at the national junior championships in Auckland.
Lucia Gale won a national mixed doubles title at the national junior championships in Auckland.
Up-and-coming Canterbury tennis player Lucia Gale put on an impressive display to win her first New Zealand junior championships title in Auckland on Wednesday.

Competing in the 12s age-group, Lucia - a Cashmere Tennis Club member and Rolleston Primary School pupil - and her Auckland-based partner, Jamie MacKenzie, took out the mixed doubles in convincing fashion at the Scabro Tennis Centre.

The top-seeded duo only dropped two games in their three matches and won the final 4-0, 4-0 in 37min against No 2 seeds Max Richardson and Chelsea Wijntjes, of Auckland.

She also made it into the semi-finals of the singles, where she lost to Samoa's Mahinarangi Warren 4-6,-3-6. But she bounced back to win the play-off for third beating Chelsea once again 6-3, 6-0.

Lucia then teamed up with club mate Ruby McPhail in the doubles and lost a tough semi-final against Chelsea and her partner Xin Xin Zhu 6-3, 4-6, 7-10.

Lucia will now represent New Zealand at the Tennis Australia nationals in Melbourne, which start on December 10. It will be her fourth time representing her country overseas this year.