Eyes are firmly fixed on the big prize as 32 nations prepare for battle and the honour of being crowned Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas champions at Club Mega Saray in Antalya, Turkey this week.

It seems such a long time since the 2019 Finals when Japan’s boys and the girls of the United States were named the best teams on the planet in the 16-and-under age category.

The 2020 Finals were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and much has changed since, including the rebranding of the girls’ competition after Fed Cup evolved into Billie Jean King Cup and adopted the name of one of the most iconic players in the event’s history.

This year’s showdown, which takes place on 28 September - 3 October, will be the first Finals since the creation of Billie Jean King Cup, and subsequently Junior Billie Jean King Cup, so the 16 girls’ teams on show in Antalya will have the added incentive of becoming the first winners of the rebranded tournament.

There is motivation at every turn, however. When the action gets underway on Tuesday, not only will players be representing their nation and bidding to win silverware for the countries which have helped nurture their talent, they have the chance to follow in some lofty footsteps.

In the last five editions of the tournament alone, the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Coco Gauff, Denis Shapovalov, Iga Swiatek and Marketa Vondrousova have all helped their nations to glory.

These players, and others, have made their mark on the sport’s biggest stages in recent times, which again shows the value of the player pathway and importance of junior team competition within that.

“Juniors was really important and very competitive,” said Auger-Aliassime in an interview with ITFWorld earlier this year. “It’s a high level of competition and it teaches you how to deal with pressure and expectation and how to handle yourself in those moments.

“It was really informative and I’m glad I went through that process of playing Juniors and playing events like Junior Davis Cup, and I keep great memories from our [Canada’s] win in 2015.

“We were coming with a strong team – almost the favourites – and we had high expectations, but we did the work and won. That accomplishment was an amazing feeling.

“We were so proud we were able to do this for ourselves but also everybody back home: the coaches, the people at the federation and everyone who helped us in that process when we were kids. It was a great feeling to win that trophy.”

Further history will be made as, for the first time, the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup Finals will be contested in Turkey, with their boys’ team bidding to become the first to triumph on home soil since Spain in 2004.

Incidentally, a trawl through history was not necessary to find the last girls’ team to top the podium at home, with the United States doing so in 2019, although prior to that it had not happened for more than 20 years.

Whether or not Turkey succeed in winning at home, the next wave of emerging global talent is ready for the limelight and there will undoubtedly be some intriguing storylines emerge from the Finals, which have provided some thrilling conclusions over the years.

Czech Republic, for instance, are highly fancied in both the boys' and girls' draws and will bid to become the first nation to win both Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup in the same year since the United States in 2014.

With the United States not competing in Antalya, there is guaranteed to be a different Junior Billie Jean King Cup winner for the first time since 2016 when Poland defeated Russia in Budapest. That is testament to the dominance of the United States but, for the other teams, opportunity now knocks.

Ultimately, anything is possible over the coming week and while there is a new name for the girls’ competition and a fresh venue for the Finals, the ethos and qualities of both tournaments remain and continue to grow.

Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup contribute significantly to a player’s development, particularly through the prism of team play, which is a rare experience in an individual sport like tennis.

The route to glory will become clearer on Monday when the draw is made. The 16 teams in each draw will be divided into four round-robin groups, from where the four group winners and four runners-up progress to the quarter-finals. 

The wait for everyone – players, officials and supporters alike – is nearly over. Let the excitement of Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup begin!

Junior Davis Cup line-up: Argentina; Brazil; Bulgaria; Canada; Chile; Czech Republic; Egypt; France; Germany; Hong Kong; Japan; Korea, Republic; Mexico,;Russia; Tunisia; Turkey

Junior Billie Jean King Cup line-up: Argentina; Canada; Chile; Czech Republic; Egypt; Germany; Hong Kong; Hungary; Japan; Mexico; Morocco; Peru; Romania; Russia; Thailand; Turkey