The penultimate J500 tournament of the season gets underway in Merida, Mexico on Monday as players aim to finish as high as possible in the year-end ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings.

There remains much to play for as players jockey for position and victory in Merida could prove crucial in the final shake-up, with the Junior Accelerator Programme also coming into play.

In case a reminder is required, J500s provide premier playing opportunities for players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and offer significant ranking points – 500 – to those crowned champions.

In short, J500s are one rung below Junior Grand Slams and J500 Merida is the sixth of seven such events in 2025. The final J500 of the season is the Orange Bowl, which is this year taking place in Fort Lauderdale.

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In Merida, Romania’s Yannick Alexandrescou will be the highest-ranked boy and what a season the 17-year-old, who was part of the Romania team that finished runners-up at the 2024 Davis Cup Junior Finals, has had.

Alexandrescou is fresh from reaching the boys’ final at the 2025 ITF World Tennis Tour Junior finals, while he has claimed four ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors titles this season to underline his considerable promise.

Japan’s Ryo Tabata also experienced the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu as an alternate and will have designs on silverware, as will others such as Brazil’s Luis Guto Miguel.

Also in contention will be two-time Junior Grand Slam boys’ doubles champion Alan Wazny, Wimbledon boys’ singles finalist Ronit Karki, Germany’s Jamie Mackenzie and Keaton Hance of the United States among others.

In the girls’ draw, Ruien Zhang of China, P.R. is likely to be one to watch. The 17-year-old was another to compete at last month’s ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals having won two junior titles this season – at J300 Casablanca and J200 Haskovo.

Two other higher-ranked girls will be South American duo Victoria Luiza Barros, who earlier this year had a hit with Brazilian football legend Ronaldo, and Luna Maria Cinalli of Argentina.

Thea Frodin of the United States, Romania’s Giulia Safina Popa and Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia are also names to keep tabs on. 

Another is Annika Penickova, who was a member of the United States team crowned 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors champions in Santiago, Chile earlier this month alongside Julieta Pareja and twin sister Kristina. 

Click here for further information, draws and results from J500 Merida.