By Sally Milano, USTA.com
The top tennis players in the world are deep into play at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, and now it's time for the stars of tomorrow to get in on the action.
French Open girls’ finalist Amanda Anisimova, 2015 USTA Girls’ 18s national champion and US Open girls’ finalist Sofia Kenin and world No. 2-ranked Ulises Blanch (pictured above) lead a deep field of American girls and boys currently set to compete at the Wimbledon Junior Championships in London.
Qualifying begins Thursday, with the main draw kicking off Saturday and running through July 10.
With 23 total boys and girls entered into the main draw or qualifying at the Wimbledon junior tournament, the U.S., for the second straight Grand Slam, has the most players entered into junior singles via direct acceptance by a wide margin. Great Britain and Japan have the second highest number of players competing, with nine each.
U.S. juniors will look to continue their recent success at Wimbledon. Last year, four of the boys’ singles quarterfinalists were American, with Reilly Opelka winning the title. In 2014, three of the four boys’ semifinalists were American, with Noah Rubin winning the first all-American boys’ singles final since 1977 over Stefan Kozlov.
On the girls’ side, both Michaela Gordon and Tornado Alicia Black reached the singles quarterfinals each of the last two years, and Taylor Townsend advanced to the singles final in 2013.
USTA Player Development National Coaches Leo Azevedo, Sylvain Guichard, Jamea Jackson, Henner Nehles and Adam Peterson will be providing support to all American players competing at junior Wimbledon. Players participating in the main draw will receive a $1,250 grant from USTA Player Development, and those players’ full-time, personal coaches traveling with them to Wimbledon will also receive a $1,250 grant.
The complete list of U.S. junior competing at Wimbledon is as follows:
Girls' Main Draw
Amanda Anisimova (14, Hallandale Beach, Fla.; Coaches: Konstantin and Olga Anisimova, Nick Saviano)
Kayla Day (16, Santa Barbara, Calif.; Coaches: Henner Nehles, Mike Gennette)
Usue Arconada (17, College Park, Md.; Coach: Frank Salazar)
Sofia Kenin (17, Pembroke Pines, Fla.; Coach: Alex Kenin and Stephen Huss)
Alexandra Sanford (17, Westerville, Ohio; Coach: Henner Nehles)
Maria Mateas (16; Braintree, Mass.; Coach: Calin Mateas)
Taylor Johnson (15; Redondo Beach, Calif.; Coach: Rosie Casals)
Claire Liu (16, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Coach: Adam Peterson, Mike Gennette)
Morgan Coppoc (17, Tulsa, Okla.; Coach: Trent Tucker)
Caty McNally (14, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn Nabors-McNally)
Michaela Gordon (16, Los Altos Hills, Calif.; Coach: Alex Poorta)
Girls' Qualifying
Chiara Lommer (17, Skokie, Ill.; Coach: Jason Winegar)
Boys' Main Draw
Ulises Blanch (18, Pompano Beach, Fla; Coaches: Daniel Garcia, Rodrigo Alvarez, Claudio Menna)
John McNally (17, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn Nabors-McNally)
J.J. Wolf (17, Cincinnati; Coach: David Kass)
Sam Riffice (17, Roseville, Calif.; Coach: Lori Riffice)
Vasil Kirkov (17, Tampa, Fla.; Coaches: Leo Azevedo, Stoyan Kirkov)
Boys' Qualifying
Nathan Ponwith (18, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Coach: Lou Belken)
Oliver Crawford (17, Spartanburg, S.C.; Coaches: Anthony Stewart, Kelly Jones)
William Blumberg (18, Greenwich, Conn.)
Gianni Ross (17, Chicago; Coaches: Jack Sharpe, Robbye Poole)
Trent Bryde (16, Suwanee, Ga.; Coach: Wil Wright)
Alafia Ayeni (16, San Diego; Coach: Anthony Ayeni)