Junior Davis Cup/Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Preview

Written by: Staff on 26th September 2011

Junior Davis Cup/Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Preview

Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in action during the last rally as he wins against Australia's Lleyton Hewitt during their Davis Cup world group play-off in Sydney, Australia, on 19 September 2011. Wawrinka defeated Hewitt in the first game after the resumption of play. EPA/DEAN LEWINS EDITORIAL USE ONLY |

The Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals, the world team championships for players aged 16 & under, get underway in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on Tuesday 27 September concluding on 2 October.

In the Junior Fed Cup, Asia/Oceania Champions Australia will be hoping to reclaim the title they last won in 2007. The Australian trio includes world No. 3 Ashleigh Barty. Fifteen-year-old Barty claimed her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and reached the US Open semifinals earlier this month.

Australia will face strong competition from European Champions Italy and runners-up Spain while the Czech Republic can boast a team containing two top 50 players – Petra Rohanova and Barbora Krejcikova – with teammate Aneta Dvorakova only just outside the top 50.

Both Brazil and Argentina will look to reach the latter stages, as will a Canadian team that includes Francoise Abanda. The 15-year-old has won three titles this year and reached five finals of her previous seven tournaments, propelling her into the world top 20.

Favourite to win the Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is Great Britain, winner of European qualifying and featuring the highest ranked player in the competition. Kyle Edmund, junior world No. 27, was part of the British team that finished third in 2010. The same trio of Edmund, Luke Bambridge and Evan Hoyt, captained by Greg Rusedski, return to San Luis Potosi determined to claim Great Britain’s first title in the competition.

South American teams have often done well in the competition, and Argentina, winner of this year’s South American qualifying, seems the most likely to keep that tradition going. Argentina’s trio contains the COSAT No. 1 and 2, Pedro Cachin and Juan Pablo Paz respectively.

The Italians are fielding Gianluigi Quinzi and Stefano Napolitano, who are both ranked in the top 10 in Europe and in the ITF junior top 100, and so should provide formidable competition, as will one of the events most consistent performers, France.

(Courtesy of ITF)