Australia’s Emerson Jones and Kaylan Bigun of the United States immediately turned their attentions towards Grand Slam glory at the 2024 Roland Garros Junior Championships after triumphing at J500 Milan.

Jones conquered all before her to lift Trofeo Bonfiglio silverware in the girls’ draw in Milan, while Bigun did likewise in the boys’ competition to claim the biggest title of his career to date.

In contrast to Bigun, Queenslander Jones has been here before having topped the podium at J500 Osaka in October 2023 and her latest victory – her second title of the season – has done nothing but bolster her burgeoning reputation.

While there have been younger winners of a solitary J500 title – six, in fact – following her success in Milan 15-year-old Jones is the youngest player – boy or girl – in history to win multiple J500 singles titles.

She has now won five singles titles at J300 level or above since August 2023, a set of results which places her at No. 2 in the ITF World Tennis Tour girls’ ranking with designs of going higher.

Jones will also undoubedly be mentioned within discussions about potential champions at Roland Garros, with the second Junior Grand Slam of the campaign getting underway in Paris on Sunday.

“This is an important tournament and I can say that it was one of my most important victories with it coming on clay, which is not exactly my favourite surface,” said Jones, who defeated Tyra Caterina Grant 7-6(3) 6-2 in the final.

“So it means a lot. I really didn’t expect it because I didn’t think I had a chance of winning. I’ve had a lot of fun and I am very proud of every match I’ve played here this week.

“Before match point in the final, I just kept telling myself to be aggressive and that’s what I was. After, I felt great. Now I’ll take a few moments to celebrate and then I’ll focus on Roland Garros.”

Jones has also tested herself further on the ITF World Tennis Tour Women’s this season and reached the final at W35 Swan Hill in March before losing to fellow Australian Gabriella Da Silva Fick.

The same applies to Bigun, who has only competed at four junior events this season but performed well in three, including reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open Junior Championships in January.

Kaylan Bigun with his J500 Milan trophy

Photo credit: Francesco Panunzio

His triumph at J500 Milan, sealed courtesy of a 6-3 6-3 victory over Kim Jangjun of Korea, Rep. – a member of the Grand Slam Player Development Programme/ITF Touring Team – in the final, was his first title since March 2023. He now holds a career-high ITF World Tennis Tour boys' ranking of No. 6 in the world. 

Like Jones, left-hander Bigun will now be focusing on the Roland Garros Junior Championships as he continues to press forward in his career and push towards the ATP Tour.

“This means a lot, it’s a really good result,” said Bigun, who was a member of the United States team that finished runners-up to Brazil at the 2022 Davis Cup Juniors Finals. 

“This is one of the most beautiful tournaments in the world and certainly the best junior one on the calendar.

“Roland Garros is coming up so winning here has been great. I’m leaving this tournament with a lot of confidence because in the United States we don’t often get to play on clay.

“For me, it is important to become a better player, match after match, and continue to grow week after week, month after month and then obviously I would be happy to get some results in the Junior Grand Slams and ATP tournaments.”

By winning J500 Milan, Jones and Bigun have followed in some exceptionally lofty footsteps. In the last 20 years alone, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexei Popyrin, Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova, Alexander Zverev, Belinda Bencic, Katerina Siniakova, Sloane Stephens and Simona Halep have all triumphed there. 

As a reminder, J500 tournaments provide premier playing opportunities for players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and offer significant ranking points to those crowned champions.

In short, J500s are one rung below Junior Grand Slams and J500 Milan was the fourth of seven such events on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors in 2024.

It is also worth noting that the ranking points accrued in Milan will contribute towards qualification for October’s ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu.

The ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals showcase the best junior players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors from the previous 12 months.

The Finals will consist of the top eight boys and girls in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals Qualification Rankings. The Qualification Rankings can be viewed here.