CAREER PATH FOR A JUNIOR TENNIS PLAYER

The Junior World Ranking circuit has acted as a stepping stone to many current top players. Research into past end of year ITF Junior World Rankings has shown that 40% of the players in the top 10 went on to break into the top 100 on the men’s or women’s professional rankings.

Research on the ITF Juniors Top 50 Ranked Boys have proved that : 60% made it into the top 300 ATP Rankings, while in the Girls 70% made it into the top 200 WTA Rankings List.

It clearly indicates that, Reaching the top 50 of the ITF Junior World Rankings is a good indicator of success in the Pros and therefore, players looking to become professional players should in most cases try to first prove themselves in junior tennis before focusing exclusively on professional events.

A recommended career path for a top national junior boy or girl to follow would normally be:

·         First attain a top 5 national junior ranking in the country,
·         To then focus on playing the ITF Junior Circuit and try to achieve a top 50 ITF Junior World Ranking. This ranking will ensure direct acceptance into the Group A events (including the four Grand Slam Junior Tournaments).  
·         A junior working to achieve this top 50 ranking should also try to play some weeks of professional events per year for experience.
·         Once the player has achieved a top 50 ranking in juniors, he/she should then focus on improving their professional ranking by playing mostly ITF Men’s/Women’s Circuit events, along with the prestigious Group A Junior events. As shown by the statistics above, once the players have proven themselves in juniors, they have a reasonably good chance of making it into the top levels of the professional game.