Which junior players are impressing as the 2024 season unfolds? | ITF
Article 26 Mar 2024

Which junior players are impressing as the 2024 season unfolds?

Ross McLean

26 Mar 2024

A number of weeks have passed since we last delved into the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors to dig out some untold stories and shine a light on players taking significant steps in their careers.

Compelling stories have certainly been forthcoming during this time. In February, Edilson Rosa became Mozambique’s first ITF singles champion in more than three decades after winning on home soil at J30 Maputo.

Further up the competition scale, Romania celebrated a J500 title for the first time in 16 years after Luca Preda conquered all before him at J500 Cairo. Earlier this month, meanwhile, Oliver Bonding became the first British boy to win a J500 singles title since 2010.

But who are some of the other moves and shakers?

    • Puerto Rico’s Yannik Alvarez is the Tour leader when it comes to titles won in 2024. The 15-year-old, who currently holds a career-high ranking of No. 267 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings, has won a combined six titles this season – with an equal split between singles and doubles. His most recent singles triumph came at J60 Bayamon at the weekend where he also triumphed in the doubles. Alongside Ryan Cozad of the United States, Alvarez has won all three of the doubles events he has entered in 2024. The only singles match he has lost this season came against Ukraine’s Glib Sekachov in the second round at J100 Queretaro in February.

    • Three players currently sit a place below Alvarez on the list of ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors title winners in 2024 having won a combined total of five across singles and doubles. Hungary’s David Bakonyi, Ophelie Boullay of France and Ava Rodriguez of the United States have all topped the podium on five occasions this season. Of those three players, Boullay has won the most singles titles having won on three occasions, most recently at J60 Blagnac at the weekend. The 15-year-old is currently ranked No. 326 in the ITF World Tennis Tour girls’ rankings.

    • The accolade for most match-wins on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors so far this season goes to Jack Kennedy of the United States. Kennedy, who is also 15, has clocked up 23 victories so far. These wins have contributed to him claiming three singles titles, including the best of his career at J300 San Diego at the weekend, and rising to a career-high No. 26 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings.

    • While Kennedy stands alone at the summit of the list for most match-wins on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors this season, there are others who have chalked up an impressive number. Serbia’s Anastasija Cvetkovic, for instance, is just one behind Kennedy after reaching the semi-finals at J60 Antalya at the weekend. Xia Yue of China P.R., Australia’s Alana Subasic, Maria Golovina and Connor Doig of South Africa are all on 20 match-wins this term.

    • Fifteen players are currently on a 10-match winning streak, including Edilson Rosa who by triumphing at J30 Maputo in February became the first player from Mozambique to win an ITF singles title for more than 30 years. Six of those players – Australia’s Ava Beck, Wang Yuhan of China P.R., Armenia’s Mikayel Avanesyan, Ophelie Boullay of France, Poland’s Jan Chlodnicki and Rira Kosaka of Japan, all notched their 10th successive match-win at the weekend.

    • When considering the biggest rankings risers this season, perhaps it is pertinent to consider those who have risen into the Top 50 of the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors Rankings. Ian Mayew of the United States continues to make his presence felt and currently sits at a career-high No. 27 in the boys’ rankings have risen 236 places this year. Elsewhere in the boys’ rankings, France’s Nathan Trouve has also impressed, jumping 111 places to No. 33, while Jack Kennedy of the United States has risen 83 to No. 26. Andreas Timini of Cyprus, meanwhile, has jumped 50 places to No. 43 in the world.

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  • On the girls’ side, American duo Thea Frodin and Shannon Lam continue to impress and have both barged their way into the Top 50 this season – rising to Nos. 35 and 50 respectively. Belgium’s Jeline Vandromme is very much worth a mention after rising 64 places to a career-high No. 29 since January. Kaitlyn Rolls of the United States, fresh from her maiden J500 title at Blumenau in March, is another to have impressed in 2024, rising 42 places to No. 21, while Sonja Zhiyenbayeva now sits at No. 31 after starting the year at No. 65.

These are just a few names with which to conjure as the 2024 campaign continues to unfold, but others will most certainly flicker on the radar of tennis fans as the season progresses.