The United States girls’ teams pulled off a historic feat at the 2009 World Junior Tennis Finals, winning its third consecutive title at the 14-and-under version of Fed Cup and Davis Cup, in Prostejov, Czech Republic, August 3-8. It is the first time in the history of the event that one country has captured three straight titles. The U.S. boys’ team, which won the 2008 title, finished in 11th place.
The boys’ and girls’ divisions each had 16 nations which were split into groups of four with round robin play used to determine the semifinalists. The U.S. teams qualified for the World Group Finals in May at the North/Central American & Caribbean Regional Championships.
The second-seeded U.S. girls’ team dominated its round robin group, beating Bulgaria 2-1 before defeating both South Korea and Argentina, the No. 8 seed, 3-0. They defeated No. 6 Japan 2-1 in the semifinals, and in the final beat No. 5 Czech Republic 2-1, with all three matches decided by a third set.
The U.S. World Junior Tennis girls’ team was comprised of Sachia Vickery (Miramar, Fla.), who also competed on last year’s title-winning team, reigning USTA Girls’ 14s National Champion Victoria Duval (Bradenton, Fla.) and Brooke Austin (Indianapolis), the reigning Girls’ 14s Easter Bowl champion.
The third-seeded U.S. boys’ team went 1-2 in round robin play and 2-3 overall, defeating Mexico to finish in 11th place. The boys’ team was comprised of Mackenzie McDonald (Piedmont, Calif.), Joseph Di Giulio (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Nikko Madregallejo (Duarte, Calif.).
Former U.S. junior international team members include James Blake, Jennifer Capriati, Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Lindsay Davenport, Taylor Dent, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri, Ashley Harkleroad, Lisa Raymond, Andy Roddick and Chanda Rubin.