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Tennis Europe Junior Tour | 14/16 & Under
Created in 1990, the Tennis Europe Junior Tour has long been the platform of choice for the launch of a successful career, and in recent years has heralded the arrival of such top players as Justine Henin-Hardenne, Roger Federer, Amelie Mauresmo, Marat Safin, Richard Gasquet and Maria Sharapova, to name but a few.
The tour is divided into three age groups; under-16s, under-14s and (since 2000) under-12s. In 2007, these three categories combined for a total of some 283 tournaments, staged across 43 of the 49 member nations of Tennis Europe. The exponential growth of the tour - which last year saw participation from around 10,000 players - represents an astonishing diversification of its original total of 43 tournaments over two age groups.
In many ways a dress rehearsal for life on the professional circuit, the Tennis Europe Junior Tour also boasts a cumulative weekly ranking, 'Player of the Year' awards (former recipients include Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters), and a season-ending Masters tournament for the top eight performers in each category. As with professional tennis, an anti-doping program has been introduced in cooperation with the ITF in order to educate young players about the dangers of doping.
The appeal of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour extends well beyond its home continent, and in 2006 players came from almost 100 countries worldwide to participate. Guillermo Coria is one non-European to have excelled, ending the year as a top ten player twice, once as an U-14 and once U-16. Other players such as Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian, Lindsay Davenport and Alicia Molik also got a first taste of European competition on the tour.
Tour events are played at three levels, ranging from the elite Category 1 events, which attract the strongest draws, to the more numerous and accessible Category 2 and 3 events. Boys and girls events in both singles and doubles events are held at all tournaments, with some offering additional consolation tournaments for early losers. In order to reduce the pressure to perform, rankings are not produced for the youngest age group, whilst player parties, cultural exchanges and tourist trips encourage all players to focus on more than just their results.
Team events form some of the highlights of the Junior Tour, with the Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD and the Summer Cups providing youngsters with an early opportunity to compete for their countries, whilst the European Junior Championships title is arguably the most treasured prize of all. All three flagship events have an illustrious history, dating back to the founding of Tennis Europe in the mid-1970's.
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The Tennis Europe Junior Tour is the leading pan-European competitive forum for junior talent in any major sport.
Novak Djokovic in 2002. One of the many Grand Slam champions to have found early success on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.
Over a quarter of a million spectators filed through the gates in 2004 to see competitions that would be reported in over 780 periodicals worldwide, garnering over 12,000 minutes of TV and radio airtime. The image of the tour received a further boost in 2006, with Tennis Europe implementing a wide-ranging program of enhancements and extra services for players, fans and tournaments.
The quality of play on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour is such that a myriad of former world No.1s, including Graf, Seles, Sanchez-Vicario, Becker, Edberg, Lendl, Moya and Wilander all displayed their talents to an international audience for the first time on the European circuit, proving that the tour really does provide an opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow today. |
