The sight of Clara Burel and Clara Tauson doing battle at the US Open brought back memories and prompted an inevitable dive into the archives to uncover a photographic gem from the past.

For most casual observers of the game, such players flicker on radars from time to time during Grand Slams and other major events before giving way to more established names, whereas to others they mean a whole lot more. 

The photograph in question shows Burel of France, with trophy in hand, flanked by Maria Camila Osorio Serrano of Colombia and Denmark’s Tauson, both of whom are sporting huge smiles. The occasion? The 2018 ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu.

Burel had just ended her losing streak in finals – she had lost four inside a year, including two at Junior Grand Slams and the gold medal match at the Youth Olympic Games – to finally lift silverware, defeating Osorio Serrano as Tauson finished third.

Tennis is portrayed as an individual sport, and it is, but when a group of players come together, like they do every year at the season-ending ITF Junior Finals, for those working at such events that group becomes a collective to forever watch out for.

After all, in terms of the ITF Junior Finals, they are the best 16 junior players that campaign and it becomes fascinating to witness their progress, their transition to the professional ranks and how they establish themselves among the world’s best.

No matter what she achieves in her career, to those in Chengdu in 2018, Osorio Serrano will probably always be remembered for donning a panda costume along with compatriot Nicolas Mejia while answering questions about the lovable species.

But while that day is a treasured memory for some, it was just a moment in time. Those players in Chengdu that year are no longer the best juniors as the player pathway has dictated that they are now very much in the sport’s fast lane, and that is heartening to know.

For the players themselves, the US Open is unlikely to be their first rodeo. Burel, for instance, reached the third round at Roland Garros last year, while 18-year-old Tauson made it to round two on the clay of Paris a matter of months ago.

Tauson is again into the second round at a Slam following a 7-5 6-0 victory over Burel, with world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Ashleigh Barty her illustrious opponent as she bids to progress further in the women’s draw.

For her part, Osorio Serrano also advanced after dispatching Serbia’s Ivana Jorovic and will now go head-to-head with Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, who is seeded No. 20 at Flushing Meadows.

Osorio Serrano received a $25,000 ITF-administered Grand Slam Development Fund player grant in 2020, which followed ITF International Junior Player Grants in 2018 and 2019 and places on several Touring Teams. Last month, she made her Olympic debut in Tokyo.

Sometimes it is quite staggering to think what that group of then-teenagers – some of course still are – from Chengdu in 2018 have achieved in what feels like such a short space of time – and a development period truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Only those there and students of junior tennis will know off the top of their heads who comprises the Chengdu class of 2018. Lorenzo Musetti and Hugo Gaston were present and both have made their mark since and would appear names with which to conjure.

Musetti is ranked No. 60 in the world rankings and is into the second round after defeating Emilio Nava – incidentally a repeat of the 2019 Australian Open boys’ final. He too competed at Tokyo 2020.

Gaston, meanwhile, starred at Roland Garros in 2020 where he defeated Stan Wawrinka before eventually succumbing to US Open champion Dominic Thiem after surging into a two-set lead during their fourth-round encounter.

Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada was also present in China. Her career trajectory in the months and years since has been stark and she is another player to occupy a slot within the top 100 of the world rankings.

Also an Olympic debutant, Fernandez is into the US Open second round after overcoming Croatia’s Ana Konjuh and she will come up against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi for a place in round three.

Brandon Nakashima, meanwhile, may just be starting to make his mark. He overpowered fellow American and world No. 22 John Isner in the opening round at Flushing Meadows – a truly fantastic victory, although just his second match-win at a Grand Slam.

Nakashima, in some ways, was the surprise package in Chengdu in 2018 as he brushed aside a host of more fancied players to top the podium at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre.

He celebrated by venturing out of the complex and returning with an ice cream which he consumed in the hotel foyer. Later, he proved a reluctant dancer as the remainder of the group encouraged him to strut his stuff with fellow champion Burel.

When the names Burel, Musetti, Tauson, Osorio Serrano, Gaston, Fernandez, Nakashima – and others, like Mejia, Wang Xiyu and Wang Xinyu, who are not focused upon directly in this piece – are read out, together they probably mean little to the outside world.

But, to those involved in junior tennis and the development of emerging talent, they mean plenty. And while early days at the US Open, the 2018 ITF Junior Finals alumni are once again proving shining lights for the player pathway. Long may it continue.