Borg and Monfils among junior cast at Roland Garros
While junior Grand Slams are fertile ground for spotting tomorrow’s household names, both Roland Garros draws in 2021 feature surnames already synonymous with the Parisian terre battue.
Leo Borg, son of six-time men’s champion Bjorn Borg, makes his first junior Grand Slam main appearance following his 2019 wild card turn in qualifying at Wimbledon. The boys’ world No. 21 faces France’s Max Westphal in the first round, with a potential third-round clash with top seed Juncheng Shang in the third round.
In the girls’ draw, French wild card Maelie Monfils is hoping to follow in the footsteps of big brother Gael, the 2004 Roland Garros boys’ champion and 2008 men’s semi-finalist. At the age of 13 she joked that “it would be funny if I could do better than him” after impressing at Les Petits As, the world’s premier under-14 tournament – three years on, the world No. 283 has the chance to turn heads against Russia’s Polina Iatcenko in the first round.
One French player destined for big things is Oceane Babel, returning to the juniors after an impressive appearance in the women’s draw last week. The 17-year-old girls’ world No. 7 held her own in a 6-2 7-5 loss to world No. 5 Elina Svitolina, and after collecting a Grade A title in Criciuma in March, she has demonstrated her prowess in the junior ranks. She faces American Reese Brantmeier in the first round.
Babel is one of seven left-handers among the top 10 players in the girls’ singles draw, a trait shared with the top seeds of both draws: Shang of China and Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra, the only player in either junior draw with a singles title to her name.
The 2020 Australian Open champion, still just 15 years old, made her WTA Tour main draw debut as a wild card at the Madrid Open last month, but having fallen in the second round of the girls’ draw in Paris in October this week’s tournament offers the girls’ world No. 2 the chance to set the record straight.
On paper, her stiffest competition comes in the form of Philippines’ Alex Eala, the No. 2 seed, who reached the semi-finals of last year’s draw. The 16-year-old, a junior Grand Slam doubles champion at the 2020 Australian Open alongside Indonesia’s Priska Madelyn Nugroho, opens against Great Britain’s Matilda Mutavdzic, while Nugroho, the No. 15 seed, faces Daria Vidmanova.
French tennis boasts four of the 16 seeds in the boys’ draw, led by No. 5 seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, while USA’s Bruno Kuzuhara occupies the No. 2 seed spot at the base of the draw. The American faces Czech Adam Jurajda in the first round.
And one name to keep an eye on in a few years' time: 13-year-old French wild card Mathilde Ngijol-Carre, the youngest player in either draw.
You can check out the Roland Garros Junior draws in full here.