The USTA announced today the top American juniors who will represent the United States in the World Junior Tennis competition finals. The event features 32 teams (16 boys’ teams and 16 girls’ teams) composed of players 14-and-under from 23 nations across the world. The U.S. captured both titles last year; the boys will look to become the first back-to-back winners since the U.S. won in 2002 and 2003, while the girls will seek their third straight title.
The World Junior Tennis competition finals will be held Aug. 3-8 in Prostejov, Czech Republic. The United States is one of nine nations (Argentina, Australia, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Russia and South Africa) to send a boys’ team and a girls’ team to the World Finals.
World Junior Tennis - Boys
Joseph Di Giulio, Newport Beach, Calif.
Nikko Madregallejo, Duarte, Calif.
Mackenzie McDonald, Piedmont, Calif.
Coach: Andres Pedroso
World Junior Tennis - Girls
Brooke Austin, Indianapolis
Victoria Duval, Bradenton, Fla.
Sachia Vickery, Miramar, Fla.
Coach: Kathy Rinaldi
The U.S. boys’ team went undefeated at the North/Central America and Caribbean Regional Championships in May to qualify for the finals along with second-place Mexico, while the girls’ team qualified by finishing second to the team from Canada. Each member returns from the boys’ team that competed in May, while Vickery replaces Jamie Loeb on the U.S. girls’ roster.
In September, both Di Giulio and Madregallejo will begin training full time at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla.
McDonald, 14, is currently the top-ranked player in the USTA Boys’ 14s National Standings and won the Boys’ 14s title at the Easter Bowl in April, where he beat Madregallejo, a 14-year-old and the No. 2 player in the USTA Boys’ 14s rankings, in the final. Also competing will be Di Giulio, 14; he is currently No. 5 in the USTA Boys’ 14s rankings and finished in third place at last week’s USTA Boys’ 14s National Clay Court Championships.
The girls team also features the top-ranked player in the USTA Girls’ 14s National Standings in Austin, 13; she won the Girls’ 14s Easter Bowl title in April and swept the Girls’ 12s singles and doubles titles at both the USTA National Clay Court Championships and USTA National Championships in 2008. Joining her will be Duval, 13, who is No. 6 in the USTA Girls’ 14s rankings and is the reigning USTA Girls’ 14s national champion. Vickery, 14, from Miramar, Fla., is the only member of either team who appeared in last year’s competition and is coming off a semifinal appearance at the USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 women’s event in Evansville, Ind.