Junior stars ready for Sunday start

Stars of tomorrow preparing for the Roland-Garros Junior Championships

Thomas Faurel, qualifying, Roland-Garros 2024©Clement Mahoudeau / FFT
 - Lee Goodall

Some of the greatest ever to play the sport first burst onto the Grand Slam stage by winning junior titles in Paris and the next wave of elite level young players are ready to roll on the Roland-Garros clay.

On Sunday the Roland-Garros Junior Championships boys’ and girls’ singles draws begin when the leading 18-and-under players kick-start their quest to follow in the footsteps of some of the best ever clay courters.

A group that includes Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl, Stan Wawrinka, Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin and Simona Halep have won junior trophies in Paris and then gone on to claim either the men’s or women’s Roland-Garros titles later in their careers.

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And a glance down the list of pros that are still going a week into this year’s main draws further demonstrates how winning as a junior can provide a platform for a successful professional career.

Former Paris junior champions Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina, Tommy Paul and Holger Rune are all still going strong on Day 7.

So who to look out for when the juniors start on Sunday?

One of the highest profile players in the boys’ draw is Austrian 18-year-old second seed Joel Schwaerzler, the junior world No.2 who recently won his first Challenger title on the men’s tour and who has an ATP ranking of 387.

The teenager is coached by fellow Austrian and former ATP singles and doubles top-10 player Jurgen Melzer. Both are left-handed and Melzer recently said that similarity is helping him shape the youngster’s game.

“I think it helps a lot that I was a lefty too,” said Melzer, who won the Wimbledon boys’ singles as a junior. “The things that I can teach him... the patterns that I have from the past help him. That’s something that’s good for the relationship.”

Schwaerzler, who was born and started playing the sport in South Africa, recently featured in an ITF video that follows the Austrian during a day of training. It gives an insight into the level of sports science, fitness, dedication and hours on court that need to be invested to become a successful young tennis pro.

Another of the top boys who has enjoyed good results on the pro tour this year is Norway’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer who collected Futures trophies this spring.

Top seed Rei Sakamoto will be looking to become the first player from Japan to win a junior title in Paris. The world No.1 and 2024 Australian Open junior champ is also bidding to become the first boy to win the opening two junior majors of the season since Gael Monfils in 2004.

Thomas Faurel (pictured top) is the leading French player in the boys' draw. The 18-year-old received a wildcard into the men's qualifying, losing to Zdenek Kolar in three sets. Faurel is the nephew of French coach Jean-Christophe Faurel, who is part of Gauff's team here in Paris.

In a similar position to Sakamoto in the girls’ draw is top-seeded Slovakian 16-year-old Renata Jamrichova, who was also crowned junior Australian Open champion in Melbourne in January.

Girls’ world No.1 Jamrichova is another who’s had a good year in the pros after claiming two singles titles on the women’s ITF World Tennis Tour and representing her country in the Billie Jean King Cup.

She’s not alone in that respect with five of the girls’ top 10 seeds having won at least one professional trophy.

In terms of recent form, look out for Belgium’s Jeline Vandromme who sits at the top of the junior matches won leaderboard in 2024.

And recent champions at the big junior clay event in Milan, Italy that precedes Paris will be feeling confident heading to the French capital.

Those titles went to Australia’s junior world No.2 Emerson Jones and the fifth seed in the Paris boys' draw, young American Kaylan Bigun.