Big past champions, ranking points up for grabs: Juniors in Criciuma
Having homed in on Egyptian capital city Cairo, attention now switches to the clay courts of Criciuma in Brazil where the second J500 tournament of the 2023 campaign gets underway today.
J500 tournaments provide premier playing opportunities for players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and offer significant ranking points, prestige and glamour to those who are crowned champions.
As was the case last year, there will be seven J500s taking place this season, with four more to come after Criciuma before December’s season-ending Orange Bowl at J500 Plantation in Florida. This event quite often determines the year-end junior world No. 1s.
J500 Criciuma therefore offers the stars of tomorrow an opportunity to not only lift silverware but also take an early stranglehold on the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings, which are starting to take shape.
While there will be significant talent on show in Criciuma, one player to keep a close eye on is home favourite Joao Fonseca, who reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open Junior Championships in January.
Fonseca has a blossoming reputation – the 16-year-old has already competed at ITF World Tennis Tour Men’s and ATP Challenger level – and is the second highest-ranked player in the boy’s draw behind Yaroslav Demin.
Incidentally, both Fonseca and Demin have had the honour of being crowned world champions at the Davis Cup Juniors Finals, with the former the most recent winner of the two having topped the podium with Brazil in 2022.
In the girls’ draw, Sara Saito of Japan is a name with which to conjure. Saito is currently ranked a career-high No. 5 in the junior world rankings having chalked up two titles – J300 Asuncion and J300 Porto Alegre – already this term.
The 16-year-old, who made her ITF World Tennis Tour Women’s debut in 2022, also has experience of winning at J500 level, having topped the podium at J500 Osaka in October to claim the biggest title of her fledgling career.
In terms of the tournament itself, J500 Criciuma is also known as the Banana Bowl – named as a tropical version of the Orange Bowl held in the United States – and has a rich but somewhat nomadic history.
Criciuma has been the tournament's home since 2019 following a move from Porto Alegre and, regardless of geography, the event's past winners include an array of future Grand Slam champions and headline acts.
Those to have conquered all before them at the Banana Bowl include John McEnroe, Helena Sukova, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten, Andy Roddick, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig.
In short, ranking points, prestige and a place in history are up for grabs.