Junior National Championships 2023: 18U preview, draws, scores & live stream
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The top prize in British junior tennis – the 18U Junior National Championships are returning to the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
Bringing together the very best and most promising junior talents from all regions in Great Britain to compete for the title and for wild cards into this year’s Wimbledon main draw qualifiers and junior draws.
There are four trophies on offer – boy’s and girl’s singles and doubles – with all draws played as a straight knock-out with 16 players.
Track all the latest scores and draws from this year’s event and watch the action live, right here.
Watch live
Key dates
18U qualifying: 8-9 April
18U main draw: 11-14 April
Draws
The main draw take place on Saturday 8 April.
Preview
This year’s 18U girl’s draw promises to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. Top seed Ella McDonald comes in having reached a career-high world No.8 in the junior rankings this year and having won her first professional title at the W25 Glasgow doubles.
She’s joined by reigning champion and current world No.29, Mimi Xu. The 15-year-old from Wales had a great run at the end of 2022, with a third round bout at Junior Wimbledon, as well as a final at the J1 Guadalajara.
Isabelle Lacy is also in strong form having already made the semi-finals of the J300 Barranquilla and the quarter-finals at the J200 Benicarlo. Meanwhile, Hephzibah Oluwadare and Hannah Klugman join the line-up after strong runs in the 16U competition.
Keep your eye out for Talia Neilson-Gattenby and 2021 18U and 16U champion Eva Shaw as two major contenders at the National Tennis Centre.
The boy’s draw is similarly tough to call, with Britain’s top junior stars set to take centre stage. 15-year-old Oliver Bonding will be the top seed, coming off the back of an impressive run in the 16U competition, reaching the final. The recently crowned LTA Junior Boy’s Player of the Year has enjoyed a brilliant run of form in the last month or so, also reaching the final at the junior event at Indian Wells.
Second seed Phoenix Weir has started the 2023 season well, reaching a career-high ranking at world No.63 and with a semi-final outing at the J100 Loughborough. Former world No.43 Henry Searle enters as the third seed, while four-time ITF Junior Tour title-winner in 2023, Charlie Robertson, is the fourth seed.
Former 16U champion Hugo Coquelin and finalist at this year’s 16U competition, Benjamin Gusic-Wan will also be players to watch next week.
Wimbledon wild cards
The big news for the 18U Junior National Championships, is that not only can players compete for the title, but they can also earn themselves wild cards for The Championships, Wimbledon 2023.
Here’s how players can book their place at SW19 this year.
- A wild card into the qualifying event for Wimbledon, as well as a wild card into the main draw of the Wimbledon junior championships will be awarded to the 18U male and female winners.
- A wild card into the main draw of the Wimbledon junior championships will be awarded to the 18U male and female runners-up.
- A wild card for Wimbledon junior championships main draw doubles will be awarded to the 18U doubles male and female winning pairs.
