ITF Class of 2024: Nicolai Budkov Kjaer
The ITF’s ‘Class of…’ series recognises players who have had a successful year on the ITF World Tennis Tour. It identifies the most promising breakthrough talents and those predicted to go on to bigger things.
This year’s group was decided by a panel of experts. Ashley Keber (WTA), James Marsalek (ATP), Mark Woodforde (ITF), Mary Pierce (ITF) and Nao Kawatei (ITF) voted on a shortlist of 14 players.
Following yesterday's induction of Czechia's Tereza Valentova into the 'Class of 2024', it is now the turn of Nicolai Budkov Kjaer – a hugely talented individual from Norway who has enjoyed success at junior and professional level in 2024.
There is a sense of destiny with certain players. This is hard to quantify or explain but every now and again you just get a feeling that a player has what it takes to make their mark in the game.
Norway’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer falls into that category and while he would be the first to admit there is plenty of scope for improvement and development, his 2024 campaign suggests he is on the up.
It is a season in which he has combined success at junior level – he is on course to be named the year-end No. 1 boy and, as such, an ITF World Champion – with joy at professional events.
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In many respects it is textbook execution of a player progressing along the ITF pathway, with the 18-year-old also chalking up his maiden Davis Cup match-wins for Norway this year.
To complete his season, Budkov Kjaer was invited to the ATP Tour Finals in Turin to perform the role of hitting partner for some of the world’s best players, reflecting his potential and status as an emerging talent.
“Nicolai has had great development in many areas in 2024, mixing the highest junior tournaments with starting to play pro events and playing Davis Cup matches for Norway,” said his coach and father, Alexander Kjaer.
“Nicolai won 64 singles matches this year and he has had some fantastic training experiences with top pros all season, from the Australian Open in Melbourne to ATP Finals in Turin.
“It is great to end the year as junior world No. 1 and we look forward to taking advantage of the excellent [ATP] NextGen programme in 2025.”
From the start, Budkov Kjaer’s season was a mix of junior and professional tournaments as he made his debut in men's competition on the ITF World Tennis Tour in February and won his first pro event a month later.
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A second followed in May – both were at M15 level and in Antalya, Turkiye – but were no flukes as he also reached the final at M25 Antalya earlier this month and two other semi-finals during the course of the year.
This has contributed to Oslo-born Budkov Kjaer jumping to a career-high No. 512 in the ATP Rankings, an impressive rise given he only claimed his first ATP point in March.
At the same time as his breakthrough within the professional ranks was happening, Budkov Kjaer was continuing to challenge for honours as a junior and reached at least the semis in his first five events of 2024.
This included topping the podium at J300 Beaulieu-sur-Mer in April although the biggest prize was the boys’ title at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon in July. In the process, he became the first Norwegian to win a Junior Grand Slam.
By this stage, Budkov Kjaer had scooped the Roland Garros boys' doubles title alongside Austria's Joel Schwaerzler, while he came within a whisker of making it back-to-back Junior Grand Slam singles titles at September’s US Open.
He lost a third-set tiebreak to Spain’s Rafael Jodar in agonising fashion with another gleaming trophy tantalisingly within reach. However, his achievements during a hugely productive campaign see Budkov Kjaer, who was a member of the Grand Slam Player Development Programme/ITF Touring Team in 2023, voted into the ITF's Class of 2024.
This talented Norwegian is most certainly someone to keep a close eye on during the coming months and years.