ISLAMABAD: The ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals would take place at the Sichuan International Tennis Center, Chengdu, China from October 16 to 22.
The event showcases the best Junior players from the past twelve months within the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors, which provides opportunities for players aged 18 and under to compete internationally, said a press release.
The Tour includes over 800 tournaments held in 140 countries, and constitutes seven levels – J30, J60, J100, J200, J300, J500, and Junior Grand Slams.
In partnership with the Chinese Tennis Association, Chengdu Sports Bureau, and Chengdu Shuangliu District Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the event would resume in Chengdu following successful events that took place between 2015 to 2019.
Previous participants include 2022 US and French Open finalist Casper Ruud, current US No.1 Taylor Fritz, reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.
Previous champions include Andrey Rublev (2015), Marta Kostyuk (2017), Holger Rune (2019) and Diane Parry (2019).
The finals would consist of the top eight boys and girls in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals Qualification Rankings, which shall consider results achieved in the 52-week period up to Monday, September 11. If no Chinese player finishes in the top eight, the final place in each draw would be reserved as a wildcard for any Chinese player who finishes in the top 25. If no Chinese player finishes in the top 25, the eighth place would revert to the qualification rankings list.
New for 2023, an alternate player would be awarded for the Boys and Girls events. For 2023, this player would be a Chinese player provided they are ranked in the Top 100 in the final qualification rankings.
The winner of each event would earn 750 points in the ITF Junior Rankings, which shall boost their ITF Junior Year-End Ranking position whereby players earn Junior Exempt (Girls) or Junior Accelerator (Boys) positions into Professional tournaments.
The 2023 winner in both the boys’ and girls’ events would receive $17,000 USD, with travel grants staggered at every level through to those in the 8th position who will be awarded with $8,500 USD.
David Haggerty, ITF President said, “The ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals is a prestigious event that provides the ideal platform for players to progress through the ITF World Tennis Tour, which is the main artery into the top levels of the game.”
