Prostejov harbours a museum featuring a collection of clocks, but when it is time for the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals the town is very much awash with jewels of the future rather than historic artefacts.

The back catalogue of players to have featured on the clay of the TK Plus Centre for the tournament’s conclusion is jaw-dropping, with current and former world No. 1s, Grand Slam winners and the game’s biggest names all competing there.

This year’s Finals – the 21st in succession to be hosted by TK Prostejov – begins in earnest on Monday, at which stage the top 16 boys’ and girls’ teams in the 14 and under age category will do battle for silverware. In total, 25 nations will be represented in the Czech Republic.

Given the list of esteemed former participants, the modern-day vintage will know, whether they are attending the welcome dinner, players’ barbeque or farewell party, that they are following the in footsteps of some lofty names.

Previous headline acts have included Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – winners of a combined 34 Grand Slam singles titles. Nadal contested the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals in 1999 and 2000, while Djokovic competed in 2001.

The list of big-hitters to have played there is all but endless: Andy Murray, Amelie Mauresmo, Lleyton Hewitt, Ashleigh Barty, Juan Martin del Potro, Elina Svitolina, Kei Nishikori, Eugenie Bouchard, Nick Kyrgios, Frances Tiafoe, Sloane Stephens and Andy Roddick to name but a few.

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Bianca Andreescu represented Canada in 2014, as did Denis Shapovalov 12 months earlier, which was also the year Marketa Vondrousova and Australian duo Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin featured.

Czech Fed Cup by BNP Paribas winner Katerina Siniakova, Daniil Medvedev and Thanasi Kokkinakis played alongside Barty, who claimed her maiden Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros in June, in 2010.

American Cori Gauff, meanwhile, who rocketed into the world’s Top 150 following her run to the round of 16 at this year’s Wimbledon, is another to have showcased her skills in Prostejov. The 15-year-old was a member of the USA girls’ team crowned ITF World Junior Tennis winners in 2017.

So regardless of whether it is defending boys’ champions USA or the girls’ team from Greece, who have qualified for the Finals for the first time, the gauntlet has been thrown down. History has proven that Prostejov can be an important step in a talented player’s development.

The format of the Finals sees the 16 boys’ and girls’ teams drawn into four round-robin groups before the top two sides in each group progress to the quarter-finals where a knockout competition decides the champions. Daily updates and features will appear on www.itftennis.com from Sunday.

Qualified Teams

Boys: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Peru, Romania, Thailand and USA.

Girls: Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.