At the Australian Open Junior Championships 2012, Hong Kong's Katherine Ip (ITF 106), seeded 9th in girls' singles qualifying, fell just shy of a berth in the maindraw when she lost to Italy's Camilla Rosatello (ITF 148) in the third and final round, 6-2, 6-1.

Currently just ten spots off her career-high ranking, Katherine Ip received a bye in the opening round. Then in round two, she beat India's Aarzoo Malik (ITF 288) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

However, the 16-year-old fell at the final hurdle to Italy's Camilla Rosatello (ITF 148), who has just claimed her first hardcourt title at the Grade 3 Torneo Pontevedra in Spain earlier this month.

Although ranked below Katherine Ip, Rosatello played No. 2 singles and started in doubles for the Italian Junior Fed Cup team that came fourth at last year's World Finals in San Luis Potosi.

In terms of current WTA Ranking, she is ranked No. 1087 in singles and has won a women's doubles title at the C10 San Remo already last year.

Earlier at the Grade 1 Loy Yang Traralgon International, Katherine Ip managed to beat Belinda Woolcock (ITF 139) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, before she got upended by Elena-Teodora Cadar (ITF 76) of Romania in the second round, 6-0, 6-4.

Belinda Woolcock played on the victorious Australian 16U team that clinched the Junior Fed Cup in 2011. She went 3-2 at No. 2 singles behind Ashley Barty and 4-0 in doubles as a starter. She also possesses a career-best WTA Ranking of No. 770 in singles and currently trains at the Nicole Pratt-Australian Institute of Sport.

Last year, Elena-Teodora Cadar played in the girls' singles maindraw at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and peaked at a career-high No. 56. She also has a WTA Ranking of No. 1038.

Meanwhile, a number of players from Asia are competing for the girls' singles title in Melbourne this year, with Japan, remarkably, having seven total entries in the 64-player draw.

There are forty-five Direct Acceptances, the last one being Youth Olympic Games silver medalist, Zheng Saisai, whose ITF Ranking has slipped from inside the top-10 to out of the top-500 due to inactivity on the world junior circuit.

Her WTA Ranking of 274, however, is the second highest in this year's field and trails only Russian Yulia Putintseva's 243 in that regard. Zheng Saisai, in fact, has now been accorded the No. 9 seeding for the girls' singles.

Results
Australian Open Junior Championships (GA)
Melbourne, Australia
Jan 19-20, 2012

GIRLS' SINGLES QUALIFYING

Second Round
(9)Katherine Ip (HKG) d. Aarzoo Malik (IND) 6-3 6-2

Third Round
Camilla Rosatello (ITA) d. (9)Katherine Ip (HKG) 6-2 6-1


Results
Loy Yang Traralgon International (G1)
Traralgon, Australia
Jan 15-20, 2012

GIRLS' SINGLES

First Round
Katherine Ip (HKG) d. Belinda Woolcock (AUS) 6-3 6-0

Second Round
Elena-Teodora Cadar (ROU) d. Katherine Ip (HKG) 6-0 6-4