ITF

ITF World Summer 2023 33 JUNIORS continues RIDE THE The ITF World Junior Tennis Finals may be over for another year, but there is plenty of mileage left in the season for the world's rising junior stars. By Ross McLean. For those at the top of the junior game, there are the US Open and three J500 events still to be played in 2023. Aside from junior Grand Slams, J500s are the highest classification of event on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors. These events offer silverware and prestige, not to mention a healthy dose of rankings points as the race to be named the year-end junior world No. 1 – and junior ITF World Champion – hots up. Ranking points have even greater significance this season with the return of the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu, which will take place at the Sichuan International Tennis Center in the Chinese city from 16 to 22 October. The Junior Finals showcase the best junior players on the ITF World Tennis Tour from the previous 12 months and consist of the top eight boys and top eight girls in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals Qualification Rankings. By the end of the US Open – the fourth and final Grand Slam of the campaign – the picture of which players are firmly in contention to compete in Chengdu will be far clearer. Grand Slam champions Marketa Vondrousova, Elena Rybakina, Sofia Kenin and Jelena Ostapenko have all contested the Junior Finals, as have the likes of Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz, Leylah Fernandez, Lorenzo Musetti, Marta Kostyuk and Camila Osorio. It is also worth noting that the players at the Junior Finals will benefit from travel grants to support their future progression to professional tennis. The 2023 winner in both the boys' and girls' events will receive a minimum of $17,000, with the grants staggered at every level through to Watch a video about the 2023 ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals. See the full line-up of national teams for the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors and Davis Cup Juniors Finals. C L I C K H E R E FO R M O R E Clockwise from top le : Tamina Kochta of Germany helped the girls' 14-and-under team finish second in Prostejov; Elena Rybakina played the Junior Finals in Chengdu in 2017; Diane Parry and Holger Rune were the winners of the Junior Finals in 2019; Brazil were Davis Cup Juniors champions last year; Turkiye's Kaan Isik Kosaner those in eighth position who will receive a minimum of $6,000.  Almost immediately after the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals is the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by Gainbridge and Davis Cup Juniors Finals, where teams will battle to be the world's finest in the 16-and-under age category. The line-up of nations competing at those Finals has been confirmed and follows qualifying events in five regions – Asia/Oceania, Europe, Africa, South America and North/Central America and the Caribbean – while Spain have qualified automatically as hosts. The Finals will be played on outdoor red clay courts at two venues in the historic city of Cordoba and form part of a wider agreement between the ITF and Andalusia (the Spanish region will also host the elite-level Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals in Seville and the Davis Cup Final 8 in Malaga). The Davis Cup Juniors Finals will take place between 30 October and 5 November, and the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by Gainbridge Finals are being held 6 to 12 November – the same week as the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The 16 boys' teams and 16 girls' teams that have qualified for the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by Gainbridge Finals and Davis Cup Juniors Finals will compete at two venues in Cordoba. Similar to the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals in Prostejov, previous Billie Jean King Cup Juniors and Davis Cup Juniors Finals have featured the likes of Nadal, Barty, Auger-Aliassime, Swiatek, Alcaraz and Gauff – among many others. It is time for the modern-day vintage to follow in some illustrious footsteps once more and take the next significant stride on their tennis journey. Good luck. n

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