Junior National Championships 2023: 16U preview, draws, scores & live stream
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The best 16U players in the country come together to compete for one of the biggest prizes in British tennis – the Junior National Championships.
Returning to the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton the Junior National Championships is one of the highlights in our tennis calendar – with the 16U event boasting a roll of honour featuring the likes of Jack Draper, Dan Evans, Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Paul Jubb.
Not only will the players compete for the prestigious title, but the best performers can also clinch Wimbledon wild cards and the top junior international events in Great Britain – so it’s all to play for.
The tournament is played as a straight knock-out with 16 players competing in both the girl’s and boy’s main draws.
Track all the latest scores and draws from this year’s event and watch the action live, right here.
Key dates
- 16U qualifying: 1-2 April
- 16U main draw: 4-7 April
Draws
The qualifying draw will take place on Tuesday 28 March, with the main draw being held on Saturday 1 April.
Preview
This year’s tournament promises to be as competitive as ever with Britain’s top players competing in both the girl’s and the boy’s draws.
Top seeds Hephzibah Oluwadare and Hannah Klugman will be aiming to set the tone on the girl’s side. Junior world No.73 Oluwadare comes into the competition having reached the singles final of the J200 Santo Domingo last week, while Klugman made the final of the world-famous Orange Bowl in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Winter Cup runners-up, Mika Stojsavljevic, Allegra Korpanec Davies and Abby Kelliher will be looking to mount a title challenge of their own.
LTA Women's National Coach Katie O'Brien is hoping the success of British No.1 Emma Raducanu will serve as a big inspiration to the rising stars of the game.
"Emma winning the US Open had a hugely positive effect on all our junior girls," said O’Brien.
"Since then, Ella McDonald has gone on to break into the top ten of the ITF Junior rankings and Ranah Stoiber reaches the semi-finals of the Australian Open junior finals. It has been really inspiring to see.
"We also have our 2022 U16 and U18 Junior Nationals champion Mimi Xu in the top 30 of the ITF Junior rankings, so it is an exciting time for the sport."
With 10 British players currently in the top 100 of the ITF Junior rankings, the most in recent memory, Britain has some bright prospects taking part in the Junior Nationals.
"We are going to have a full-strength draw with all our best juniors taking part," added OBrien.
"Having some tournaments in this country means they have a chance to compete here and the Junior Nationals is always a great chance to showcase the players we have coming through in Britain."
Oliver Bonding will lead the charge in the boy’s draw, having recently made the final of the junior event at Indian Wells.
He’s joined by 2022 semi-finalist and last week's J100 Roehampton winner Benjamin Gusic-Wan, as well as 14U Winter Cup and Les Petit As champion, Mark Ceban, in a fiercely tough draw for the boy’s.
LTA’s Men’s Team coach Martin Weston is looking forward to a competitive week after recent successes for the British players.
"Having five of our boys in the top 100 if the ITF junior rankings is a real sign of progress," said Weston.
"We also have nine in the top 200 and some of the results our junior boys have been achieving this year confirm they are getting used to playing competitive matches.
"The junior years are vital for giving a young player the opportunity to gather the experience he will need to make the transition into the senior tour and we want to see them get their match count as high as possible.
"The target is to play upwards of 60 competitive games a year and build a good win to loss record, as that is the perfect preparation to hit the ground running when they look to step up to the senior tour."
