It has been commonly labelled as the junior world championships and, taking a look at it’s roll of honour, winning the Orange Bowl is undoubtedly the sign of a promising future. Names such as Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Albert Costa, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki or Vera Zvonareva have all got their hands on the coveted trophy in Florida.
The 2015 edition (the 69th in total) of the Orange Bowl has got underway today at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Florida, with over one hundred young men and women vying succeed Stefan Kozlov and Sofia Kenin as champions.
The number one seed in the boy’s draw is current junior world number three Casper Ruud. However, the spotlight won’t be on the son of former Norwegian professional Christian Ruud but on Canadian sensation Felix-Auger Aliassime, who heads into the event in good form after becoming the youngest player to win the Eddie Herr International Open.
Other players to look out for are Alex De Minaur, who was in the headlines in Spain this week after the Spanish federation failed to financially back his career, leading him to move to Australia, who he represents and intends to do so in the future, and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who has forged himself on the incredibly competitive Futures tour this season.
“There’s, of course, similar players to last week, but the atmosphere is different. The courts are different. Hopefully I can play good tennis here and enjoy it”, said Aliassime.
In the girl’s draw, defending champion Sofia Kenin will look to lift the trophy two years on the bounce, becoming the first player to do so since Vera Zvonareva at the turn of the year.
Junior grand slam champions Tereza Mihalikova (Australian Open champion) and Dalma Galfi (US Open champion) will look to put an end to the American’s dominance.