THE MOST IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL U18 TOURNAMENT IN SPAIN RETURNS TO THE FERRERO ACADEMY
This Sunday will begin the 25th edition of the tournament that has been won by Alcaraz, Badosa, Rublev or Davidovich, among others.
The first junior tournament organized in Spain was organized in 2001 at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy, then known as EQUELITE and still counting with Juan Carlos Ferrero as a player who was trained at the Academy and who had already given Spain the first Davis Cup. Since then, the tournament has been held annually and has grown to be the highest-ranked tournament in Spain with a larger than usual draw.
An obligatory stop for the best junior rackets in the world, who are looking to score the last points needed to reach Roland Garros, or to position themselves with a bigger advantage in the draw. More than 35 nationalities will be represented in the tournament. However, as usual, the eyes will be on the Spanish representation. The tournament usually measures the good level of the Spanish junior team. The “Junior Armada” does not usually disappoint: Carlos Alcaraz, Paula Badosa, Alejandro Davidovich, Pablo Carreño-Busta, Nicolas Almagro, Rebeka Masarova, Pablo Andujar, Cristina Bucsa or Jaume Munar are some of the Spanish names that top the impressive list of winners.
Last year's men's champion of the ITF J300 Eduardo Ferrero Memorial was once again Spanish. Andres Santamarta took the trophy and managed to finish the year in the Top5 best U18 players of the year. Along with the Spaniards, several of the big names we see competing on the professional circuit today also competed in this tournament: Andrey Rublev was a finalist 10 years ago and the champions just 4 years ago were Diana Schnaider (WTA Top13) and Giovanni Mpetshi (Top30ATP and the most surprising serve of the circuit).
A unique opportunity to meet the tennis of the future and check the health of Spanish tennis.In the women's category, Spain will start as one of the favorites for the title, with four players in the Top100 and with Neus Torner and Charo Esquiva as seeded players.In the men's draw, the tournament is very evenly matched and with very different representation from different countries. Tito Chavez and Sergio Planella are the top-ranked Spaniards.The tournament is open to the public and the main courts will be broadcast live on the playsight platform (link from the Instagram @equeliteferrero).