By Sally Milano, USTA.com
Claire Liu, the youngest player in the WTA's Top 600, and Amanda Anisimova (pictured above), the No. 5-ranked junior in the world, lead 12 top juniors who have been nominated to represent the U.S. in the qualifying rounds of the 16-and-under Junior Davis and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas and the 14-and-under World Junior Tennis competitions.
The world’s premier junior team events will be played April 28-30 on green clay courts at the USTA Training Center – Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla.
The North/Central American and Caribbean Final Qualifying rounds feature 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 advance to the Junior Davis and Fed Cup Finals, which will be held Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in Budapest, Hungary, and the World Junior Tennis Finals, which will take place Aug. 1-6 in Prostejov, Czech Republic.
The full U.S. team nominations are as follows:
Junior Davis Cup vs. Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic
Trey Hilderbrand (15, San Antonio; Coach: Mark Hilderbrand)
Sebastian Korda (15, Bradenton, Fla.; Coach: Petr Korda)
Keenan Mayo (15, Roseville, Calif.; Coach: Vahe Assadourian)
Captain: Leo Azevedo
Junior Fed Cup vs. Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico
Amanda Anisimova (14, Hallandale Beach, Fla.; Coaches: Nick Saviano, Konstantin and Olga Anisimova)
Claire Liu (15, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Coaches: Mike Gennette, Adam Peterson)
Caty McNally (14, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn McNally)
Captain: Adam Peterson
World Junior Tennis – Boys vs. Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico
Stefan Leustian (14, Mather, Calif.; Coach: Vitaly Gorin)
Nicholas Garcia (14, Hollywood, Fla.; Coach: Andy Brandi, Juan Angel Garcia)
Alex Lee (14, Oak Brook, Ill.; Coach: Lance Luciani)
Captain: Eric Nunez
World Junior Tennis – Girls vs. Canada, Mexico, Guatemala
Naomi Cheong (13, Las Vegas; Coach: Henner Nehles)
Alexa Noel (13, Summit, N.J.; Coaches: Frank Salazar, Vesa Ponkka)
Whitney Osuigwe (14, Bradenton, Fla.; Coach: Desmond Osuigwe)
Captain: Jean Desdunes
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).
Jim Courier, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport and Sloane Stephens are among the American tennis stars who once played U.S. junior international team events. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have also represented their respective countries in junior international team competition.
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May 2, 2016
Editor's Note: All of the U.S. teams were successful in their bids to qualify for the finals of the Junior Davis and Fed Cup and World Junior Tennis competitions.
The U.S. girls' Junior Fed Cup team did not drop a set in the entire competition and lost only 22 games total in nine matches. The boys' and girls' World Junior Tennis Championships teams also went undefeated in their matches and finished in first place in their respective events.
In Junior Davis Cup play, the American boys finished in second place behind Canada, losing 2-1 in the final, with the deciding match going to a tiebreak.
The World Junior Tennis Championships final will be held Aug. 1-6 in Protejov, Czech Republic, followed by the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup finals, which are set for Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in Budapest, Hungary.