It was 2019 the last time junior champions were crowned at Wimbledon.

Senorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello topped the UK music charts, Rocketman was lighting up the big screen and Great Britain was about to experience a mini heatwave with a new record set for the hottest day.

Back then Covid-19 was unheard of and it was business as usual at Wimbledon: storylines, glory, history-making. Shintaro Mochizuki laid claim to all three by becoming the first Japanese boy to win a Junior Grand Slam title, while Ukraine’s Daria Snigur triumphed in the girls’ draw.

So much has happened since, yet equally there are moments from those Junior Championships which remain fresh in the mind. On Monday, 722 days since Mochizuki and Snigur conquered all, Junior Grand Slam action returns to SW19.

In the absence of Czech Linda Noskova, Luca van Assche enters the fray as the only competitor with a Junior Grand Slam singles title to their name this season after lifting silverware at the Roland Garros Junior Championships earlier this month.

Van Assche is bidding to follow in the footsteps of Tseng Chun-Hsin of Chinese Taipei, who recorded a Roland Garros-Wimbledon double back in 2018. It may be of interest to Van Assche that prior to Tseng the previous boy to achieve the feat was a fellow Frenchman by the name of Gael Monfils, who won three Junior Grand Slams in 2004 – now that would be something.

It was the home favourites who hit the headlines on the clay courts of Paris earlier this month as, for the first time, four French boys contested the semi-finals of a junior event at Roland Garros.

Three of those – Van Assche, Sean Cuenin and Arthur Fils – are in southwest London and primed for a further title tilt. However, if home comforts once again prove significant then Great Britain’s Jack Pinnington Jones, who is seeded No. 7, could be one to watch.

The top seed in the boys’ draw is China’s Juncheng Shang, who will be buoyed by the heroics of his fellow countryman Zhang Zhizhen. On Tuesday, Zhang became the first Chinese man in the Open Era to feature in the main draw at Wimbledon.

Van Assche is the second seed in the boys' draw, while Fils, Bruno Kuzuhara of the United States and Brazil’s Pedro Boscardin Dias complete the list of top five seeds.

It would not be a Junior Grand Slam, or the Junior Championships here at Wimbledon in particular, without an obligatory mention of Leo Borg. The 18-year-old will return to the scene of his father’s domination in the late 1970s and early 1980s – Bjorn won five consecutive titles here between 1976 and 1980, and also the junior crown in 1972 – although his focus will be on forging a narrative of his own.

Top seed in the girls’ draw, meanwhile, is Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra, the only girl here to win a Junior Grand Slam singles title, having shot to fame at the 2020 Australian Open aged just 14.

Her best result at the two Junior Grand Slams since was reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros earlier this month where she succumbed to Noskova. Junior world No. 1 Jimenez Kasintseva will be eager to reassert her authority.

No. 2 seed is Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, who suffered a first-round exit on the clay courts of Paris but recovered to win the doubles alongside Russia’s Oksana Selekhmeteva.

Selekhmeteva is not competing at Wimbledon, but fellow Russians Diana Shnaider and Polina Kudermetova are, with both ranked among the favourites and seeded at Nos. 3 and 4 respectively.

France’s Oceane Babel, who faced world No. 5 Elina Svitolina at Roland Garros after being given a wild card entry into the main draw there, is the fifth seed.

But as was proven here in 2019, being a seeded player is no guarantee of success. Snigur was unseeded but blazed her way to the final where she defeated Alexa Noel of the United States.

Mochizuki, meanwhile, was seeded, at No. 8, although he faced an unseeded opponent in the form of Carlos Gimeno Valero of Spain in the final.

In essence, the opportunity for a junior to make a name for themselves is there to be seized. While the identities of those who will be forever remembered and celebrated on the Wimbledon honours board remain undetermined, one thing is for certain, it is great to be back.

Further information on the Junior Championships at Wimbledon, including a full acceptance list for both the boys’ and girls’ draws, can be viewed here.