Who benefits from the Junior Accelerator Programme in 2026?
What is the Junior Accelerator Programme?
The Junior Accelerator Programme has been in place since 1 January 2023 and rewards the best-performing juniors – boys and girls – each year with exposure to higher-level competition.
The Junior Accelerator Programme replaced Junior Exempt positions which were previously offered to the best-performing junior players, although this programme – which operates in collaboration with the men’s and women’s professional Tours – offers far greater rewards.
The underlying principle is to ensure aspiring, talented players have the opportunity, encouragement and support to advance in their careers and progress along the player pathway.
This initiative is designed to accelerate the progression of the world’s best boys and girls based on their proven success in the best ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors tournaments as they take important steps within professional tennis.
What does the Junior Accelerator Programme mean for boys finishing a particular year within the Top 20?
Each player ranked within the Top 20 of the year-end ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings is granted up to eight Accelerator places at ATP Challenger Tour 50 and 75 tournaments the following season.
These will be split between main draw (boys finishing within the Top 10) and qualifying (boys finishing 11-20 in the rankings), with players also eligible for two Accelerator places at M15 or M25 ITF World Tennis Tour events.
Players ranked 21-30 in the year-end ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings are eligible for eight places at M15 or M25 events the following calendar year.
And for girls finishing a particular year within the Top 20?
For each player ranked within the Top 20 of the ITF World Tennis Tour girls’ rankings, there are five opportunities to access main draws at women’s events on the ITF World Tennis Tour – from W15 to W100 level, depending on ranking.
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Girls finishing in the Top 20 are entitled during the next calendar year to use their Accelerator places to gain direct entry to the main draw of an applicable tournament which they would otherwise not the eligible for based on WTA, ITF or national ranking. There are also rewards based on Junior Grand Slam performance irrespective of rankings.
Who has been awarded Accelerator places in 2026?
Boys
By finishing in the Top 10 of the 2025 ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ year-end rankings, the following players are eligible for eight ATP Challenger 50 or ATP Challenger 75 main draw Accelerator places and up to two main draw places at M15 or M25 events:
Ivan Ivanov (BUL), Max Schoenhaus (GER), Alexander Vasilev (BUL), Yannick Alexandrescou (FRA), Jacopo Vasami (ITA), Jack Kennedy (USA), Benjamin Willwerth (USA), Niels McDonald (GER), Luis Guto Miguel (BRA), Andres Santamarta Roig (ESP).
Oskari Paldanius (FIN), Ryo Tabata (JPN), Egor Pleshivtsev, Keaton Hance (USA), Alan Wazny (POL), Jamie McKenzie (GER), Thijs Boogaard (NED), Jagger Leach (USA), Ronit Karki (USA) and Nikita Bilozertsev (UKR), meanwhile, finished 11-20 respectively in the year-end ITF World Tennis Tour boys' rankings.
Winners of boys' Grand Slam singles events, such as Switzerland's Henry Bernet in 2025, earn the equivalent places of a Top 10-ranked player regardless of their year-end ranking, while boys' Grand Slam singles runners-up earn the equivalent places of an 11-20 year-end ranked player.
Girls
Having finished 2025 as the year-end No. 1 girl, Kristina Penickova of the United States has earned a main draw place at three ITF World Tennis Tour events up to and including W100s, and two tournaments up to and including W75s in 2026.
Belgium’s Jeline Vandromme finished No. 2 in the 2025 year-end rankings, earning main draw places at two tournaments up to and including W100s and main draw places at three tournaments up to and including W75s.
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Mia Pohankova (SVK), Hannah Klugman (GBR), Julieta Pareja (USA) and Lilli Tagger (AUT), who finished Nos 3-6 in the year-end rankings, have earned main draw places at ITF World Tennis Tour events on a sliding scale.
Despite finishing the year outside the Top 20, Wakana Sonobe (JPN) receives the same as Pohanova by virtue of winning a Junior Grand Slam title – at the Australia Open in January. Sonobe and Pohanova both receive a main draw place at one event up to and including a W100, two events up to and including W75s and two events up to and including W50s.
Julia Stusek (GER), Alena Kovackova (CZE), Ksenia Efremova (FRA) and Jana Kovackova (CZE) finished Nos 7-10 in the year-end rankings. They have earned main draw places at two events up to and including W50s and main draw places at three events up to and including W35s.
Lea Nilsson (SWE) also benefits from the Junior Accelerator Programme having finished runner-up at the US Open Junior Championships in September. The 17-year-old has earned entry to two events up to and including W75s and three events up to and including W50s.
Who benefitted the most from the Junior Accelerator Programme in 2025?
Laura Samson (CZE) used an Accelerator place at W50+H Pazardzhik in September, conquering all before her to scoop the second of three ITF World Tennis Tour titles in 2025. This remains the joint-second biggest title of the 17-year-old’s career. Samson has since risen to No. 144 in the WTA Rankings.
Petr Brunclik (CZE), who is currently ranked No. 306 in the ATP Rankings, used an Accelerator place to enter and win M25 Santo Domingo in March, while Reda Bennani (MAR), who is No. 595 in the world, lifted silverware at M15 Tanger in July using an Accelerator place.
In total, Accelerator places were used on 118 unique occasions in 2025. As well as the three titles won, a further 35 players reached either the final, semi-final or quarter-final using an Accelerator place.
As the ITF leads the world in providing a global pathway for players, the Junior Accelerator Programme is very much a way of rewarding talented juniors to aid their passage to the professional ranks.