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Shortly before the start of The Championships, Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world No.1 junior, posted a video clip on Twitter of a pony-tailed Roger Federer taking junior honours here in 1998.
A nice footage of @rogerfederer at @Wimbledon when he was starting he's career. https://t.co/1TmzSysMiU
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@StefTsitsipas) June 9, 2016
The accompanying comment read: “A nice footage of @rogerfederer at @Wimbledon when he was starting his career”. The subtext, applicable to the entire field of internationally acclaimed juniors, is “starting his career... just as I am”.
Nerves, excitement, tension, determination, jubilation, dismay... the list of emotions goes on for the 128 boys and girls who this weekend walked on to court with the aim of declaring themselves stars of the future. With only three first-round matches completed on Saturday due to the rain, Middle Sunday became the showcase for the start of the Junior Singles events. This is always a special moment. There is no bigger platform and no greater fairytale for a young player than to battle through the draw in tandem with the business end of the main tournament and be crowned a junior Grand Slam champion.
Remember how Laura Robson shot into a nation’s consciousness when she won Junior Wimbledon at the age of 14 as an unseeded player? And how Eugenie Bouchard followed up a 2012 junior victory by romping through to a Centre Court confrontation with Petra Kvitova two years later? Or, a generation earlier, how thrilling it was to witness Bjorn Borg’s junior prowess evolve into a record-breaking status as five-times Wimbledon champion?
With six British juniors so far through to the second round (Ryan Storrie, Jay Clarke, Finn Bass and Luke Hammond on the boys’ side and Francesca Jones and Gabriella Taylor flying the flag for the girls) – and six more yet to start their campaign – there is plenty of opportunity to show home support.
Overall, there is an abundance of intrigue to watch unfold this week in the juniors draw, not least because many competitors have limited experience on grass. “Everyone is interested in the progress of Felix Auger-Aliassime,” says Colette Lewis, who runs zootennis.com, the website dedicated to junior tennis news. Last July, at the age of 14, the Canadian became the youngest player to break the Top 800 on the ATP rankings at No.749, but he arrives at Wimbledon after talk of a meltdown. “He had three match points at the French Open last month, and ended up not winning. He lost in the first round at Roehampton, and the question is: how will he do?”
On Middle Sunday, Auger-Aliassime looked to have initiated a turnaround in confidence with a straight-sets victory over British wild card entry Alastair Gray. “That is a very good sign,” says Lewis. “I expect grass to be a very good surface for his game.”
Another talent to watch is Auger-Aliassime's compatriot, Denis Shapovalov, who is on a big roll after winning the pre-event tournament at Roehampton. He is drawn against the American William Blumberg, a repeat of last year’s first round which Blumberg swept 6-4, 6-2. “That will be interesting because Denis has since rocketed up the charts,” says Lewis.
Others to watch include Geoffrey Blancaneaux, who beat Auger-Aliassime at Roland Garros, the Australian Alex De Minaur who reached the US Open semi-final last autumn, and Daniel Altmaier, who won a Futures event last week, and could prove the classic dark horse.
Arguably the match of the first round, though – and one that drew gasps when the draw was announced – is the one facing No. 2 seed Ulises Blanch. The American is up against Casper Ruud, the Norwegian who held the No.1 world ranking in January.
Having started to concentrate more on Futures events, his junior ranking has slipped so that he was just outside the reckoning to be seeded here. This is a dangerous match for both players.
Action from the girls’ draw saw the only premature exit so far: No.11 Yuki Naito lost to Anastasia Zarytska of Ukraine.
Favourites include the Russian teenager Olyesha Pervushina and French Open champion and No.2 seed here Rebeka Masarova. The 16-year-old from Switzerland began her campaign by beating British wildcard Ema Lazic. Should she progress according to seedings, she will meet the in-form Anastasia Potapova, the No.4 seed who won at Roehampton beating her doubles partner Pervushina – coincidentally the No. 1 seed here. Talk about absorbing potential computations.
What about French Open finalist Amanda Anisimova, one of a clutch of 14-year-old Americans in the draw? “She lost in the first round at Roehampton but if she can adjust to the surface she should do well here,” says Lewis.
Even if it is more difficult than ever to transition from the juniors to establish a position at the top of mainstream tennis, young players take inspiration from logging the Grand Slam champion trajectories of the past. A host of notable previous winners have left invisible footsteps to follow on the grass of SW19: Bjorn Borg, Pat Cash and Ivan Lendl on the boys’ side while Tracy Austin, Martina Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo began their trophy-clinching careers grasping the handles of Wimbledon’s elegant junior silver trophies.
As Denis Shapovalov says, “Wimbledon is a tournament I dreamed about playing and I’ve watched forever since I started playing tennis. This is my first time here. I know it’s special the first time you walk through the Wimbledon gates.”
