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| 05 Dec 2002 | |
| Players head for final showdown at the Orange Bowl |
As the end of year looms the ITF Junior Circuit moves to Key Biscayne, Florida for the Burger King Orange Bowl which will take place from 8-15 December. Entries from the current top 10 include Marcos Baghdatis, Vera Douchevina, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Matea Mezak and Jarmila Gajdosova. These players will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the illustrious list of past champions that include John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Andy Roddick, Gabriela Sabatini and Mary Joe Fernandez.
Cyprus born Marcos Baghdatis will be the player to beat this week as he has jumped up to no. 2 in the ranking following his victory at the Grade 1 USTA International Winter Championships on Sunday. The 17 year-old adds this latest trophy to the Grade A Banana Bowl and Grade 1 Casablanca Cup titles that he negotiated earlier this year. He also reached the final of the 2002 US Open, losing out to French rising star and current world no. 1 Richard Gasquet.
The best prospects of a home victory lie in the hands of Brian Baker and Chris Kwon. Despite four ITF Junior Circuit titles apiece, neither player has yet made the breakthrough at Grade A level. Baker will be making his third attempt at the Burger King Orange Bowl title, his best performance to date was the round of 16 in 2001 when he lost to eventual champion Robin Soderling (SWE).
Others to watch out for are Japan's Go Soeda who proved his aptitude for hardcourts by taking the Osaka Mayor's Cup in October and Florin Mergea, who took his first Grade 1 level title at the Eddie Herr Championships two weeks ago.
In the girls' draw Wimbledon Champion Vera Douchevina makes a welcome return to the ITF Junior Circuit. The 16 year-old is the latest in a string of talented players to emerge from Russia in recent years and is the hot favourite to continue Russia's dominance in this competition. Russian girls' have taken the title for three of the past four years, Elena Dementieva in 1998 and Vera Zvonareva taking top honours in 2000 and 2001.
Kicking at Douchevina's heals will be Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld who sits at no. 7 in the rankings. Groenefeld has captured three Grade 1 titles this year and is on the verge of making the breakthrough at Grade A level.
Matea Mezak has not competed on the ITF Junior Circuit since the Australian Open in January but with 5 career titles to her credit, including the Grade A Coffee Bowl, the bubbly Croat will be a player to avoid next week.
France's Tatiana Golovin has proved herself to be a consistent performer at top level events this year, reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon and the US Open, and taking the Grade 1 title in Kentucky, still at the tender age of 14.
Flying the US flag will be the talented Ally Baker. The Evert Tennis Academy resident lost out to Golovin in the second round last year but Baker will be able to draw on her experiences gained by competing on the ITF Women's Circuit events since the US Open.
Also watch out for Jarmila Gajdosova (SVK) who was runner-up at the Eddie Herr Championships and semifinalist at US Open and Ana Ivanovic, the Eddie Herr Champion. Virag Nemeth finished at no. 9 in the 2001 girls' singles year-end rankings but has been out injured for most of the year, an Orange Bowl quarter-finalist in 2001, definitely a dangerous floater.
Check out www.itfjuniors.com for daily reports and photographs from the Burger King Orange Bowl.
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