Cairo to make North African history by staging top junior event
Cairo will make North African history by becoming the first venue in the region to host an ITF J500 tournament, with the world’s best juniors converging on the Egyptian capital city ahead of play starting on Monday.
While Africa has a long-standing history of staging junior competitions and indeed J500 (previously referred to as Grade A) events – Cape Town and Pretoria are recent hosts – never before has North Africa done so.
The event is effectively on rotation within Africa and will be hosted for the next three years in Egypt. J500 Cairo is now on a par with leading junior tournaments such as the Banana Bowl in Criciuma, Milan’s Trofeo Bonfiglio, Florida’s Orange Bowl and others in Offenbach, Osaka and Merida.
“Egypt is very proud to host the J500 and it puts our country and North Africa on the world map of Juniors competition,” Egyptian Tennis Federation President Ismail El Shafei tells itftennis.com.
“In Egypt, we have a solid structure of ITF tournaments from J30 all the way to J300. We have welcomed players from all over the world again and again for quite some time. To have the J500 is the final touch to our pyramid and a dream for us.
“Indeed, hosting the J500 has been a goal for us since Africa was awarded a J500 in 2020. Bringing the event to North Africa made a lot of sense. The North Africa region has a lot of talented players who have competed at J200 and J300.”
J500 tournaments provide premier playing opportunities for players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and offer significant ranking points, prestige and glamour to those who are crowned champions.
The Egyptian clay-court event, which is being held at Smash Tennis Academy, is therefore a hugely attractive proposition for aspiring juniors as the 2023 season continues to unfold.
After all, J500 Cairo offers the first major opportunity since the Australian Open Junior Championships in January for players to make their presence felt and issue a statement of intent within the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings.
Junior world No. 4 Mirra Andreeva heads the girls’ draw having reached the final of the Australian Open Junior Championships during her last outing, only to succumb to Alina Korneeva.
The boys’ draw will be led by China’s Yi Zhou, who is currently ranked No. 10 in the junior world rankings following a productive opening to the campaign and a semi-final finish in Melbourne.
Both draws will also feature competitors from Egypt and the wider North African region, and the feeling within the Egyptian Tennis Federation is that this event is a major staging post in the development of emerging talent.
“With Ons Jabeur and our own Mayar Sherif shining at the top level of the professional game, their results and personality have been a source of inspiration for the younger generation,” added El Shafei.
"Now they feel that it is possible to achieve their dream. As a Federation, we just needed to create the opportunity for our most talented players who are on the doorsteps of such level to compete.
“Hosting the J500 for three years will boost junior tennis in North Africa. Competition drives the game.”
Further information on J500 Cairo, including full acceptance lists, is available here.