Junior stars return Iran, Kenya and Namibia to Grand Slam stage
Silverware and glory often dominate talk at Grand Slams but with the first round at the Australian Open Junior Championships now complete, there are already some punchy conversation starters.
The most compelling tales often involve the journey of players from nations without a powerful tennis tradition, with those competitors summoning the necessary talent, drive and ambition to defy odds in order to compete on the biggest of stages.
There are certainly others, but three individuals – Iran’s Meshkatolzahra Safi, Angella Okutoyi of Kenya and Namibia’s Connor Henry Van Schalkwyk – qualify for particular mention, especially when considering their nation’s past record at Junior Grand Slams.
For instance, by defeating Australian qualifier Anja Nayar 6-4 6-3, Safi became the first Iranian player – boy or girl – to record a Junior Grand Slam match-win and the first to compete at a Junior Grand Slam since Y. Saleh at the 1978 Junior Championships, Wimbledon.
Particularly when looking at the 17-year-old’s achievement through the prism of women’s sport historically in Iran, Junior Grand Slam debutant Safi’s victory in Melbourne today felt like a significant moment and one which ought to resonate. Safi agreed.
“This was a big step – the biggest step in my career,” Safi told itftennis.com.
“To get to this point, I really had tough times because playing professional tennis in my country is really hard. I had a really tough time playing tournaments, getting visas and I didn’t have sponsors too many times.
“But if I had a message to other young people like me, I’d just say, ‘don’t give up on your dreams’. When I started, everyone in Iran was saying it was impossible and that I couldn’t play Grand Slams, especially to my mum.
“That is why I never told my dream to anyone, I just kept pushing. I want to tell people: ‘Keep pushing and believing in your dream’. Reaching this success today is really big and I hope that I can continue.
“I have continued in every tough situation in my life, and I just hope to continue more. To everyone with a dream, believe in yourself. If you get a tough situation, deal with it, keep your head up, keep pushing and reach far.”
Safi’s tennis journey began when she was watching television with her mother and witnessed Rafael Nadal on-court for the first time, sparking curiosity about a sport with limited exposure in Iran.
The JTI is the national 14 and under junior development programme for a National Association which provides increased opportunities for participation and identifies talent for focused development.
Clearly talented from an early age, Safi claimed her first national titles aged 10 before competing at successive ITF Asia Development Championships. Her maiden ITF junior titles arrived in 2019, preceding a stunning 2021 campaign during which she topped the podium on six occasions in singles competition alone, including a career-best victory at J2 Shymkent in October.
Earlier this month, she assumed a junior ranking of No. 87 in the world, becoming the first Iranian player to be ranked within the top 100. Strong-willed and tenacious, Safi believes a new dawn may have broken for tennis in her homeland.
“In terms of Iranian tennis, I feel I have opened a new window,” she said. “It is a special day for Iranian tennis, and I am really happy to share these feelings with the Iranians. Now I am one of the good reasons why people can see tennis in my country.”
Safi’s achievements are noteworthy and inspiring in equal measure, but Okutoyi, a member of the Grand Slam Development Fund/ITF Touring Team at the Australian Open and another player nurtured through the JTI, also starred on behalf of her nation today.
Making her Junior Grand Slam debut, Okutoyi, who is ranked No. 62 in the world rankings, defeated Italian qualifier Federica Urgesi 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3, to set up a second-round showdown with Australia’s Zara Larke.
The 17-year-old is the second Kenyan girl to play a Junior Grand Slam after Susan Wakhungu, who also featured at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon in 1978, while Christian Vitulli contested the US Open Junior Tennis Championships in 2005.
“It is so great,” said Okutoyi, who claimed three ITF World Tennis Tour junior titles last year, most recently at JB2 Sousse in November. “It feels like a big step. It is my first time at a Grand Slam and my first win at a Grand Slam. It gives me motivation.
“I am happy to represent my country and everyone back home. It feels great being the first since 2005 to win at a Grand Slam. It gives me motivation and I believe it gives Kenyan kids motivation to believe they can also do it.
“I had a dream to win a match at a Grand Slam. I keep a tennis book and I wrote in it a few years ago that I dreamt of winning a match at a Grand Slam. I had hope and I believed that one day I would be here.”
Unlike Safi and Okutoyi, Van Schalkwyk failed to reach the second round and crashed out of the boys’ draw on Saturday following a straight-sets defeat to Japan’s Lennon Roark Jones.
Nevertheless, Van Schalkwyk still became the first Namibian junior to compete at a Junior Grand Slam since Suzelle Davin at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon in 2006. Incidentally, the last Namibian boy to feature at a Junior Grand Slam was Jurgens Strydom, who would later become Van Schalkwyk’s coach, at the All England Club a year earlier in 2005.
While it was not to be for Van Schalkwyk on this occasion, the 17-year-old has experienced one of the biggest stages in junior tennis, which could well prove something of a springboard for the future. He spent today watching Nadal beat Adrian Mannarino on Rod Laver Arena – a consolation for his defeat if nothing else.
“Being at a Junior Grand Slam is something I looked forward to and worked really hard for,” Van Schalkwyk, who spent time at the ITF/CAT High Performance Training Centre in Morocco, told itftennis.com. “Unluckily, it didn’t go my way this time, but I hope to be back better next time.
“I am proud to be the first Namibian junior since 2006 to compete at a Junior Grand Slam. It really makes me feel proud as I really like representing my country and have done since an early age. I hope I can do it for many more years.
“One of my goals that I never thought I would see come to reality was playing at the same Grand Slam as Nadal. This is further confirmation that I want to take my tennis as far as possible and one day play at a senior Grand Slam.”
The Australian Open Juniors Championships is providing some enthralling storylines. Long may it continue.