Junior Tennis- a Start-up Point for Junior Players

The Tennis is referred to as junior tennis where the participants are below 18 years of age. The eligibility criterion that has been followed is to compete in ITF Junior tournaments. And that criterion is not decided on age, but year of birth only.

That’s why some players are left out of junior tennis team soon after completion of their eighteenth birthday while some play till 19 years of age. It is very interesting to know that some of the best junior players may also play in main adult championships; however, they are required to arrange their parents or guardian’s signature. It is known that some of the great players became very famous by becoming professional players at the age of 16. Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras are the live examples of that. There are many junior tournaments arranged worldwide to encourage Tennis and search for good players. USTA Junior Tournaments is played in the United States of America where it is common for kids. These are fully sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association (the USTA). By competing in tournaments, junior players can achieve their own ranking points. Just being at the age of 8 years old the players in the USA, can compete in junior tournaments and under level. The ITF Junior Circuit is conducted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). It gives opportunity to junior players to establish a world junior ranking and give them fair chance to get an ATP or WTA ranking. Participants have to progress through ITF tournaments, Satellites, Futures and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit game. The Junior Tournaments are divided into 8 different grades. Two type of ranking namely- singles and doubles are given to them. The grand slam tournaments like Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open are the same for juniors as they are for the seniors.

By: Anita Aishvarya

Content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_tennis