Szili, who comes from Adelaide, started playing tennis aged five and was coached by Graeme Neville.

As a junior her most noted performance came at the 2002 Australian Open where she and Casey Dellacqua won the girls' doubles title.

Szili and Hewitt were beaten in the opening round by eventual quarter-finalists Amanda Coetzer and Lori McNeil.

A week later she won a $10,000 ITF circuit tournament in Wellington, with a win over local player Ilke Gers in the final.

[1] At the 2003 Australian Open she played in the women's singles event for the only time and was beaten by 28th seed Clarisa Fernández in the first round.