BNP Paribas World Team Cup junior title 'surreal' for Britain's Johns
With the junior World Group at the 2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup once again supported by ITF Wheelchair Tennis Programme Partner the Johan Cruyff Foundation, it was highly appropriate that the last junior singles match of this year’s event was contested by Great Britain's Joshua Johns and USA's Charlie Cooper, winners of the singles titles at last year’s respective Cruyff Foundation ITF Wheelchair Tennis Junior Camps for Europe and USA.
Tomas Majetic’s 6-1 6-1 win over Ruben Harris meant that Johns had to beat Cooper, but despite the 17-year-old Brit breaking his 15-year-old opponent’s serve to love to move 4-3 up it was Cooper who struck first to snatch the opening set.
However, having taken home silver medals from the last two World Team Cups, Johns would not be denied and ground out a 5-7 6-1 6-4 victory to send the final into a doubles decider. Great Britain won another tight contest there, too, to beat USA 2-1.
“I still don’t know what to feel. It’s a surreal experience,” said a bewildered Johns some two hours after his singles, having teamed up with Harris to win the doubles 7-5 7-6(2).
“Losing in the final last year was tough and there were tears for a while. You don’t really appreciate how important it is until you’ve reached the final and then you lose…or you win. The emotions are so different. Competing for your country is the greatest honour you can have.”
It's certainly been a great last 10 months for Johns. After winning the European Junior Camp title on Dutch soil he went on to qualify for the first ever US Open Junior Wheelchair Tennis Championships and he started this year by finishing runner-up in the boys’ singles at the Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters in Tarbes, France, where he also won the boys’ doubles title and two week ago he moved to a career-high at No.2 in the ITF’s Cruyff Foundation Junior Wheelchair Tennis Rankings for boys.
Sixteen-year-old Harris, also a member of last year’s silver medal-winning junior team, was delighted to be leaving Vilamoura Tennis and Panel Academy with a gold medal around his neck this year.
“It feels really good and to do it with Ollie (Cox), Josh and Marc (McCarroll), our captain feels great,” said Harris after partnering Johns to win a tense deciding doubles match 7-5 7-6(2). “It’s a really important event and it’s a pleasure to win it.
“I felt really nervous before the doubles, but I managed to hold my nerve and we came out winners. For me, doubles is a lot easier because you have your team mate there and Marc on the side of the court with us, too. But there was added pressure as it was the deciding match, which made it even more nerve-wracking.”
On a day when Great Britain also won their third BNP Paribas World Team Cup men’s title, victory in the junior World Group brought junior team captain McCarroll his second World Team Cup gold medal.
A teammate of Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid’s when Great Britain won their first men’s title in Antalya in 2015, McCarroll is now a gold medal-winning captain at the fourth attempt after silver medals for Great Britain in 2019 and 2022 against Australia and in 2021 against Japan.