For the first time since 2019, Canada’s top juniors will get to represent their country in international competition on home soil this week in Montreal. IGA Stadium plays host to the 2025 World Junior Tennis qualifying competitions for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
There are four events taking place this week, divided by age and gender. The U16 girls are competing in the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors qualifying while the U16 boys are in the Davis Cup Juniors qualies. There is also the World Junior Tennis U14 girls and U14 boys events.
There are six nations competing this week in Montreal. Joining Canada are the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico. Two teams in each division will advance to their respective Finals later this year.
Four countries will compete in each division. Canada, Mexico, and the United States have teams in all four events, having received direct entry. The final spot was determined by pre-qualifying events in March. The Dominican Republic rounds out the groups in both U14 divisions. Puerto Rico is the fourth team in the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors draw while Guatemala made it in the Davis Cup Juniors.
Groups:
U14 WJT Girls: Canada, Mexico, USA, Dominican Republic
U14 WJT Boys: Canada, Mexico, USA, Dominican Republic
Billie Jean King Cup Juniors: Canada, Mexico, USA, Puerto Rico
Davis Cup Juniors: Canada, Mexico, USA, Guatemala
The format is a round robin. All four teams in each group will play each other once. The top two teams in each group advance to the Finals later in the year. Matches will take place from Wednesday, April 16 to Friday, April 18.
The Canadian teams are as follows:
Billie Jean King Cup Juniors (U16)
Charlize Celebrini, 16 (British Columbia)
Laurence Demers, 15 (Québec)
Elicia Lin, 15 (Alberta)
Captain: Sharon Fichman
Davis Cup Juniors (U16)
Joshua Adamson, 15 (Ontario)
Caden Colburne, 15 (Nova Scotia)
Antoine Généreux, 16 (Québec)
Captain: Hugo Di Feo
ITF Girls World Junior Tennis (U14)
Amy Shen, 14 (British Columbia)
Tessa Sari Puente, 13 (Ontario)
Isabella Ruyu Yan, 13 (Saskatchewan)
Captain: Lan Yao-Gallop
ITF Boys World Junior Tennis (U14)
Deniz Karabulut, 14 (Ontario)
Alden S.K. Yu, 14 (British Columbia)
Ilya Sherifali, 14 (Ontario)
Captain: Roberto Brogin
Tomorrow, we will introduce the Canadian players in detail. Check back on tenniscanada.com.
Last year, the Canadian Billie Jean King Cup Juniors team and the U14 boys team managed to qualify for the Finals. The girls ultimately finished 13th at the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals, while the U14 boys finished 15th at the World Junior Tennis Finals.
Canada last hosted the regional qualifying six years ago. On that occasion, Marina Stakusic, Victoria Mboko, and Kayla Cross formed the Canadian Billie Jean King Cup Juniors team, captained by Heidi El Tabakh. All four were a part of Team Canada last week at the pro Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers in Tokyo, Japan.
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Feature Photo : Peter Figura
