MacKenzie and Sun seal national firsts with glory on Milan clay
Germany’s Jamie MacKenzie continued his stellar run of form to claim successive J500 boys' singles titles after conquering all before him at J500 Milan – the famous Trofeo Bonfiglio.
The event was also notable for Sun Xinran of China, P.R. winning the girls’ singles title and becoming the first Chinese player – boy or girl – to win two J500 singles titles. More about this later.
For MacKenzie, his success at J500 Milan followed a similar triumph at J500 Offenbach earlier this month as the 18-year-old – similar to Sun – became the first German player to win two J500 singles titles.
As a reminder, J500s provide premier playing opportunities for players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and are a rung below Junior Grand Slams in terms of ranking points on offer.
MacKenzie is also the first German boy to win a J500 singles title since Alexander Zverev won J500 Milan in 2013. On the girls’ side, Julia Stusek won J500 Offenbach last season and Ida Wobker triumphed at J500 Cairo earlier this year.
Victory on the Italian clay sees MacKenzie rise another place in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings. He now finds himself at a career-high No. 4 with top spot firmly within his sights.
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The teenager’s imperious run of form could not have come at a more opportune time with the Roland Garros Junior Championships – the second Junior Grand Slam of the season – getting underway on Sunday.
“This feels amazing,” said MacKenzie, who defeated Austria’s Thilo Behrmann, who won the boys’ singles title at J500 Cairo in April, 6-4 6-4 in the final.
“It is one of the tournaments I put on my calendar at the start of the year and really wanted to win. Now I have done that, it feels amazing to win such a prestigious tournament.”
Sun’s victory in the girls’ draw follows her breakthrough win at J500 Fort Lauderdale – or the Orange Bowl as it is also known – in December. Winning two J500s is even more impressive given she is still only 15 years old.
She is the sixth-youngest girl to win two J500 singles titles, with Anna Kournikova, Carolina Wozniacki and Amanda Anisimova among the names to have done it at an earlier age.
“I am so tired,” said Sun in the immediate aftermath of her 6-2 7-5 victory over Mariia Makarova in the girls’ singles final.
“Today I played against such a good player, and I am so happy to win. Maria is such a good player and it is so hard to play against her. This tournament is amazing and one of the best I have ever played.”
Sun has risen to a career-high No. 2 in the ITF World Tennis Tour girls’ rankings following her showing in Milan, behind only France’s Ksenia Efremova who won the Australian Open girls’ singles title in January.
Sun, meanwhile, is one of a number of players around the world to have received financial assistance through the ITF-operated Grand Slam Player Development Programme in the form of Grand Slam Player Grants.
This development programme is financed by the Grand Slams, but it is the ITF’s modelling which determines the players selected for grants. It aims to provide players from underrepresented nations with greater access to competitive pathways.
In the J500 Milan doubles draws, Anastasija Cvetkovic and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi teamed up to win the girls’ title, while Brazilian duo Luis Guto Miguel and Leonardo Storck Franca won the boys’ title.
Cvetkovic of Serbia is a member of the ITF-operated Grand Slam Player Development Programme Touring Team, as is Puerto Rico’s Yannik Alvarez, who reached the final of the boys’ doubles.
J500 Milan was the fourth J500 event of seven taking place in 2026. The next J500 will be J500 Osaka in September.