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| 25 Jun 2003 | |
| Juniors get ready for the hallowed grass of Wimbledon |
Wimbledon, the history, the tradition, the challenge of grass courts, these are all things that the best junior players will be facing at The Junior Championships, Wimbledon beginning on Saturday 28th June.
Following close on the heels of Roland Garros the players must quickly find their grass court feet, quite a task considering for some this will be their first experience of the green stuff.
In the boys' draw the field will be headed by Tomas Berdych (CZE) who, for the last year, has been plying his trade of the mens' professional tour subsequently gaining himself an ATP ranking of 210. Attempting to block his path will be 18-year-old Brian Baker (USA) who hit a hot streak at Junior Roland Garros, knocking out World Junior No.1 Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) in the quarters on his way to the final. Baker was beaten to the title by Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) but as neither the Baghdatis or the Swiss boy will be appearing at Wimbledon, the American will certainly fancy his chances of going one better this time around.
Roland Garros doubles champions and great friends Dudi Sela (ISR) and Gyorgy Balazs (HUN) will both be hot contenders for the Wimbledon title, their doubles success proving they are adept at the net, a crucial element that could set them apart from the rest.
French boys Mathieu Montcourt and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have both performed well at the previous Grand Slams in 2003, both reached the semis in Australia, and in Paris Montcourt made the quarters and Tsonga again reached the semis. Montcourt has already proved his pedigree on grass, making it to the quarterfinals at last year's Wimbledon, now a year older he will be a real contender.
Two others who will also be hot tips for the title due to their grass court prowess are Florin Mergea (ROM) and Chris Guccione (AUS). The pair contested the final at the Queens invitational junior tournament, with Mergea claiming victory. The Romanian who is the current ITF World Junior Doubles Champion has a solid all court game that could take him all the way to the title. Guccione has the benefit of standing 6ft 3inches tall, so his serve on grass will be his strongest weapon.
In the girls' draw two girls who have already adapted to the grass are Americans Carly Gullickson and Sunitha Rao. Both played qualifying for the ladies main draw, Gullickson winning all three matches to make it to the main draw, Rao winning two matches and falling at the final hurdle. Gullickson lost her first round match, but her confidence on grass will certainly be high for the start of the juniors.
Michaela Krajicek (NED) and Alisa Kleybanova (RUS), are the two players who have performed consistently well on the junior circuit this year. Aged 13 Kleybanova is the youngest girl in the draw and Krajicek is only a year older at 14. For both girls this year will be their first visit to the All England Club, so it will be interesting to see how they cope with experience. Krajicek may slightly have the upper hand of some inside information on how to win on grass, her half brother Richard Krajieck won the mens' singles title in 1996.
Other girls in contention for the title include Katerina Bohmova (CZE) and Jarmila Gajdosova (SVK), No.7 and No.8 respectively in the current ITF Junior Rankings. Bohmova has amassed some good results recently, reaching the final at the Italian Junior Open in May and the quarters at Roland Garros. Gajdosova has recently proved herself on the womens' tour, qualifying for and reaching the quarterfinal of a WTA event in Budapest, Hungary.
Two other girls who have also acheived some good results on the womens' tour and will fancy thier chances next week are Ally Baker (USA) and Tatiana Golovin (FRA). Golovin also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon last year, aged 14, only losing out to eventual champion Vera Douchevina (RUS).
To keep up to date with all the action from the Junior Championships this year, visit ITFJuniors.com daily for news, photos and results. Also, make sure you have entered our competition to predict the winner in the boys' and girls' singles events and you could win some Wimbledon goodies.
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