African tennis achieved a major milestone this week, with two boys from the continent ranking in the Junior Top 20 for the first time in history.

Eliakim Coulibaly, from Cote D’Ivoire, climbed 10 places in the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors Rankings presented by IMG Academy on Monday to reach a career-high No. 16 and join South Africa’s Khololwam Montsi in the Top 20.

Coulibaly and Montsi, the junior world No. 12, both enjoyed a strong end to 2019, with Coulibaly reaching the quarter-finals at the Grade A Orange Bowl event in Plantation, where it took eventual champion and Junior World Champion Thiago Agustin Tirante to stop him, while Montsi won his sixth title of the year – and first at Grade A level - in Cape Town in his penultimate tournament of the year.

The two players, both 17, have received significant support from the ITF and Grand Slam Development Fund over the years.

Montsi, whose older brother Siphosothando was also a Top 100 junior player, was first spotted as part of a 12 and under Talent ID camp organised by the ITF in 2012, which brought together a selection of the most promising talent from each zone in Africa.

Frank Couraud, the ITF’s Development Manager of Training Centres and Events, was present at the camp at the time and remembers noting Monti’s potential.

“We knew he was very talented but at that time in a player’s development it’s very difficult to say ‘this player is going to be Top 20’. We thought Top 100 was likely, but it’s difficult to predict the journey. He was very talented, no question.”

Tapiwa Masunga, the ITF’s Development Officer for Southern Africa, echoed Couraud’s sentiments.

“Kholo has heavily benefited from opportunities to be part of various touring teams since 2018, in Africa as well as in Europe and America,” she said. “He’s always shown great potential since first coming to our attention in the under 12s, and I believe that he can successfully turn professional and succeed on the tour.”

Coulibaly has also come through the ITF system and has been a member of the ITF High Performance Tennis Centre in Morocco since 2015.

Amine Ben Makhlouf, the Development Officer for West & North Africa, encountered Coulibaly on one of his first visits to the Ivory Coast as part of his role in overseeing the Junior Tennis Initiative programme.

“I was impressed by the talent of this left-hander,” he remembers. “I encouraged the federation to send him to participate in the ITF/CAT West Africa Junior Championships in 2015, where he finished fourth, and qualified for the African Junior Championships at under 14 level, where he reached the round of 16.

“We felt the talent was there to offer him a scholarship to the ITF High Performance Tennis Centre in Morocco from September 2015, and his development has continued on a strong trajectory ever since. His athleticism showed us that he will be a strong player.

“We hope he can produce some great performances at the junior Grand Slams this year – especially at Roland Garros.”

Discover more about how the ITF is growing the game through its Development programme, here.