PREVIEW AND DRAW: 2022 JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON
PREVIEW AND DRAW: 2022 JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON. More than a hundred up-and-coming tennis players are currently making their way to Wimbledon with the hopes of one day following in the footsteps of greats like Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, and Holger Rune and making a smooth transition to the professional game in the years to come.
On Saturday, the Junior Championships will get underway. This is the time when the stars of tomorrow compete for silverware on one of the biggest platforms in sport. In addition, most junior players will have to face a considerable challenge in this competition: playing on grass.
It is interesting to note that six out of the previous nine females to win J1 Roehampton, the customary grass-court warm-up event for Wimbledon, have gone on to win the Junior Championships and place first, second, or third. This is probably something that should be taken into regard or consideration.
As a result of her dominating performance at Roehampton, the honor goes to Liv Hovde of the United States in this year’s competition. She is the number one seed in the girls’ draw at Wimbledon, and she will begin her pursuit of triumph at SW19 with a match against Ranah Akua Stoiber of Great Britain.
A comparable pattern does not exist on the boys’ side, as Canada’s Denis Shapovalov was the last kid to win in Roehampton before going on to claim the trophy at Wimbledon in 2016. Before that, no boy had won either tournament.
Debru
Gabriel Debru, a Frenchman, is the top seed in the boys’ competition at Wimbledon. Debru is the only previous Junior Grand Slam singles champion in either the boys’ or girls’ draw, having won at Roland Garros, his home Slam, just a month ago. Debru is the only previous Junior Grand Slam singles champion in either the boys’ or girls’ draw.
Since Tseng Chun-Hsin of Chinese Taipei in 2018, Debru is attempting to make history by being the first boy to win back-to-back Junior Grand Slam championships and also the first boy to win the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double since then. In 2013, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland was the most recent girl to accomplish this feat.
In the boys’ draw, the French adolescent will compete against the likes of Jakub Mensik, who made it to the final of the boys’ competition at the Australian Open in January, Mili Poljicak of Croatia, Gonzalo Bueno of Peru, and Nishesh Basavareddy of the United States.
Bueno will go up against Juan Manuel La Serna of Argentina, Mensik will face off against Henry Searle of Great Britain, Poljicak will face off against Jeremy Jin of Australia, Basavareddy will go up against Dylan Dietrich of Switzerland, and Bueno will face off against Juan Manuel La Serna of Argentina. Mensik will begin his campaign against Henry Searle.
There are also a number of Junior Grand Slam doubles winners competing in the singles draw. These include Edas Butvilas of Lithuania, who has won the title twice, and Coleman Wong of Hong Kong, who will be featured in a behind-the-scenes video produced by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
In the girls’ draw, Hovde is placed in the same section as other top-10 players Celine Naef of Switzerland and Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic. Naef is a recipient of a Grand Slam Player Grant this year thanks to the Grand Slam Player Development Programme.
Bartunkova’s first-round opponent will be Aysegul Mert of Turkey, who is a member of the Grand Slam Player Development Programme and the International Tennis Federation Touring Team. Naef, who is also 17 years old, will compete against a local favorite in the first round, as she will play Sarah Tatu.
You can find additional information, including full drawings and acceptance lists, regarding the Junior Championships at Wimbledon by clicking on this link.