Orange Bowl: Juniors bid for silverware and late-season ranking boost
With the spotlight firmly fixed on Florida, the stars of tomorrow go in search of late-season ranking points and a timely boost ahead of the 2023 campaign at JA Plantation,a prestigious event also known as the Orange Bowl.
Grade As are the highest classification of event on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors calendar and, in addition to Junior Grand Slams, the Orange Bowl is the seventh such tournament this year after Criciuma (BRA), Offenbach (GER), Milan (ITA), Pretoria (RSA), Osaka (JPN) and Merida (MEX).
While not at the level of Junior Grand Slams, the ranking points on offer at the Orange Bowl are sizeable, while the prestige of winning a Grade A tournament remains as substantial as ever for aspiring juniors.
Indeed, the list of players to have competed at the Orange Bowl reads like a who’s who of top-tier tennis and those on show during the coming week will be keeping very esteemed company indeed.
The likes of Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Chris Evert, Roger Federer, Steffi Graf, Bjorn Borg, Hana Mandlikova, Ivan Lendl, Gabriela Sabatini, Andy Roddick, Mary Joe Fernandez, Monica Seles and Guillermo Vilas have all contested the event.
There is therefore significant inspiration and motivation for the modern-day vintage as they bid to end their season with a flourish and take important developmental steps ahead of next year.
Headlining the boys’ draw are Korea, Republic’s Gerard Campana Lee and Rodrigo Pacheco of Mexico, who have already tasted Grade A glory this season and clearly have the appetite for further accolades.
Junior world No. 6 Campana Lee topped the podium at JA Osaka in October and reached the final at JA Merida last month before Pacheco intervened to halt his 22-match winning streak and steal a share of the limelight.
Left-hander Pacheco, who earlier this year received an ITF-administered Grand Slam Player Development Programme grant as a contribution towards his competition-related costs, is currently ranked a career-high No. 8 in the junior world rankings. In short, he has pedigree.
The girls’ draw also features a recent Grade A champion in the form of Clervie Ngounoue of the United States, who conquered all before her at JA Merida to claim the biggest title of her career to date.
It has proven a profitable period for Ngounoue after she was part of the winning United States team that tasted victory at the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by BNP Paribas Finals in Antalya last month.
There are plenty of other potential title-winners on show at the Orange Bowl, which gets underway today, but the names mentioned above are certainly worth keeping close tabs on as the hunt for season-ending silverware reaches a crescendo.
For further information on the Orange Bowl, including a full acceptance list, please click here.