There’s no stopping Francesca Curmi, the 16-year-old tennis player who’s currently making Malta proud all the way Down Under. Along with her Doubles partner Loudmilla Bencheikh, Curmi has made it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open juniors… marking a historical first for the tiny Mediterranean island’s athletes.

Earlier this morning, the Maltese-French duo beat the Thai team of Naklo and Sawangkaew, the 17th and 31st best players in the world in their category.

This awesome achievement marks the first time a Maltese tennis player has made it so far in a doubles grand slam tournament, both in the juniors or pro circuit.

Fellow Maltese teenage sensation Helene Pellicano had to succumb to a 6-10 defeat alongside duos partner Custic earlier today against Americans Beck and Navarro.

However, this meant 16-year-old Pellicano had still made it to quarter finals, proudly flying the Maltese flag all the way to the final eight teams of the prestigious tournament.

Impressive results like these bode well for Malta’s future at the Fed Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in women’s tennis

With two 16-year-old players currently breaking national records and climbing the ranks (Francesca is currently ranked 66th in the IFF Junior world circuit, while Helene sits a few spots up in the 50th position), it looks like these great results are only the beginning for Malta.

Curmi and Bencheikh will meet Japan’s Natsumi Kawaguchi and Hungary’s Adrienn Nagy in the semi finals of the Australian Open Juniors Doubles tomorrow, at around 4am Maltese time.

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).