By Sally Milano
Twelve of the top junior players in the country will represent the U.S. later this week in the qualifying rounds of three of the premier junior world team competitions – the 16-and-under Junior Davis and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas and the 14-and-under World Junior Tennis. The events will take place April 27-29 in Campeche, Mexico.
Players nominated to compete on the Junior Davis Cup team include Tristan Boyer of Pasadena, Calif., William Grant of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Govind Nanda of Cerritos, Calif. USTA National Coach Eric Nunez will serve as the team's captain.
The Junior Fed Cup team consists of Caty McNally of Cincinnati, Whitney Osuigwe (pictured above) of Bradenton, Fla., and Natasha Subhash of Fairfax, Va. Erik Kortland will coach the girls in the competition.
In ITF World Junior Tennis play, Alex Bernard of Bonita Springs, Fla., Martin Damm of Bradenton and Toby Kodat, also of Bradenton, will compete on the boys' team, while Cori Gauff of Delray Beach, Fla., Charlotte Owensby of Boca Raton, Fla., and Gabriella Price, also of Boca Raton, will play on the girls' team. USTA National Coach Andy Brandi will coach the boys, and USTA National Coach Maureen Diaz will lead the girls.
The North/Central American and Caribbean Final Qualifying rounds consist of three days of round-robin play, with each matchup consisting of two singles matches and one doubles match. The top two countries from each four-country pool will advance to the Junior Davis and Fed Cup finals, which will be held Sept. 18-23 in Budapest, Hungary, and the World Junior Tennis Finals, scheduled for Aug. 7-12 in Prostejov, Czech Republic.
Overall, the U.S. has won three Junior Fed Cup titles (2008, 2012, 2014), three Junior Davis Cup titles (1999, 2008, 2014), six World Junior Tennis girls’ titles (1992, 2007-10, 2013) and four World Junior Tennis boys’ titles (2002-03, 2008, 2012).
Former U.S. junior international team members include Jim Courier, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport and Sloane Stephens. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have also represented their respective countries in junior international team competition.