Many of the best junior tennis players in the world are currently in Florida battling for honours in what many would consider to be the most prestigious junior tennis event in the tournament calendar.
The Orange Bowl is held in December every year at a variety of venues in the Miami area. It is actually split into 2 events:
- The Junior Orange Bowl is an Under 12 and Under 14 event held at 4 different venues around Miami
- The Dunlop Orange Bowl is an Under 16 and Under 18 event held mainly at the Crandon Park Tennis Centre, Key Biscayne. The Under 18 event is a Grade A ITF event – which gives similar status to a Junior Grand Slam
You often hear phrases such as ‘you don’t have to be a good junior to be a top senior player’ and ‘the best juniors don’t make the best seniors’. There is truth in that, but it is always interesting to have a look at previous winners and see where they ended up.
The following shows Junior Orange Bowl Champions from 1988 – 1997 and the rankings that they eventually achieved on the professional tour.
| Year |
U14 Girls Champion and eventual WTA Peak ranking |
U14 Boys Champion and eventual Peak ATP ranking |
| 1988 |
Nicole Hummel No ranking recorded |
Vince Spadea 18 |
| 1989 |
Marketa Kochta 110 |
Filip Kascak 648 |
| 1990 |
Heike Rusch No ranking recorded |
Magnus Norman 2 |
| 1991 |
Francesca Bentivoglio No ranking recorded |
Jamie Delgado 121 |
| 1992 |
Amelia Castera No ranking recorded |
Tommy Haas 2 |
| 1993 |
Carolina Jagieniak 200 |
Jean Lisnard 84 |
| 1994 |
Jessica Lenhoff No ranking recorded |
Artem Derepasko 189 |
| 1995 |
Katerina Srebotnik 20 |
Oliver Rochus 24 |
| 1996 |
Justine Henin 1 |
Paul-Henri Mathieu 12 |
| 1997 |
Jelena Pandzic 136 |
Stephane Bohli 126 |
It would be wrong to draw definite conclusions from the above as it is only a very small group of players. However, the most striking thing to notice is that 5 out of the 10 Under 14 Girls winners did not progress to the senior game. The most likely reason for this is that they gave up before making the transition. In contrast the progression of the boys looks strong; 9 out of the 10 winners progressed into the top 100 ATP and half of them made top 50.
So I guess it is true that the best juniors don’t always make the best senior players. However, it seems pretty clear that, so long as they keep playing, the most successful juniors tend to carry on to successful senior careers.
Aspiring young players should consider making the trip to Florida for the tournaments in December. The main 3 events are the Eddie Herr, The Prince Cup and The Orange Bowl. All have extensive qualifying draws, so don’t assume that they are impossible to get into. There are also many smaller matchplay type events that spring up at local clubs around these main events – so there is no end of good tennis even if a player was to lose early on.
Going back to this year, there are some British players going into the Junior Orange Bowl with a good chance of success. In the boys Luke Bambridge has already won the two warm up events, although that shows he’s playing well it also means he’s already played many matches in the past few weeks – hopefully he’ll be able to keep going. If one of the Brits manages to win the event then it will be interesting to see if they manage to follow the history of the previous winners.
Article by Dan Thorp