The ITF today announced revised dates and format for the third ITF Junior Masters in Chengdu, China. The 2017 event will take place during the week of 23 October and form part of the race to become 2017 ITF Junior World Champion. A total prize fund of $160,000 in travel grants will also be made available to participants.
The ITF Junior Masters was launched in 2015 as a showcase for eight boys and eight girls who qualify on the basis of their 18-and-under ITF Junior World Ranking. The competition also assists players who are making a transition from junior tennis to the professional game through opportunities including travel grants. The first three competitions including 2017 are being held at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu following an agreement with the Chinese Tennis Association and the Chengdu Sport Bureau.
Starting in 2017, the competition will be fully incorporated into the 18-and-under ITF Junior Circuit, and offer junior world ranking points that will help determine the year-end No. 1 ranking. The boys and girls singles events will consist of two round-robin groups of four players, with the top two players in each group qualifying for the semifinals.
The qualification period for the 2017 competition will run from 12 September 2016 until 10 September 2017, with the ITF Junior World Ranking of 11 September used to determine entries. The event will be open to all players born in 1999 or later.
The ITF will publish a weekly "Road to Chengdu" on the ITF Juniors website so that players and followers of the ITF Junior Circuit can keep up-to-date on the current leaderboard.
ITF President David Haggerty said: "Following the success of the first two ITF Junior Masters, we are pleased to be able to raise the status of this competition within the ITF junior calendar. The ITF is committed to helping the top junior players with their transition into the professional ranks. We felt that by changing the timing of the event to later in the calendar year, it would be more appropriate for the top ranked junior players and there is the added importance of junior world ranking points."
The Sichuan International Tennis Centre, which was built in 2008 and consists of 12 match courts and 20 practice courts, has hosted a number of international events. The ITF Junior Masters is staged on two match courts, including a 6000-capacity stadium court, with matches broadcast by Sichuan TV and streamed live.
Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Shilin Xu of China won the inaugural competition in 2015, while Seong Chan Hong of Korea and Anna Blinkova of Russia were victorious in 2016. Rublev, Xu and Blinkova are all currently ranked in the world’s Top 250, while Rublev and Hong have already represented their country in Davis Cup.
The ITF Junior Masters joins the ITF junior team competitions, the 14-and-under ITF World Junior Tennis competition, and 16-and-under Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, as the premier junior events on the 2017 ITF calendar.
For more information, please contact:
ITF Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 8392 4632
Email: communications@itftennis.com
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