Australian Open Junior Champions: Where are they now?

The boys and girls singles tournaments at Grand Slams are among the most interesting events to follow for tennis fans. It is here that the stars of the future battle it out in what is their chance to make a name for themselves in the tennis world. Stars such as Stefan Edberg, Pat Cash and the great Roger Federer have worked their way up the ranks of junior tennis, before making it big on the ATP tour.

However, there is also a flipside. The gulf in class and level of play between junior tennis and the professional tour is huge, which is not often realised. There have been many players who have shone on the junior circuit, only to find the professional circuit too much to handle, and have had either very mediocre careers or given up the game at an early age.

The Australian Open, like the other slams, also has a boys and girls singles competition. With the 2014 edition starting next Monday, let’s have a look at the junior champions of the past ten years, and a look at where they are now.

2004:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Gael Monfils

Girls’ Singles Champion: Shahar Pe’er

Gael Monfils

The winners of the 2004 edition, Gael Monfils and Shahar Pe’er have gone on to have relatively successful careers, the former more than the latter. Monfils is without doubt one of the best athletes and most entertaining players on tour, but lacks the game to perhaps win a Slam. Still, he has had some stellar results till date and has won 4 singles titles, reaching a career high of No.7 in the world in 2011.

Pe’er on the other hand, has also done well for herself on the WTA tour, winning a total of 6 singles titles and 3 doubles titles, along with a runner-up finish in the 2008 Australian Open women’s doubles competition. Her highest ranking has been No.11, also achieved in 2011, and a career-high doubles ranking of No.14. Oh, and she also joined the Israeli military in 2006 as part of the mandatory military training in place in the country.

2005:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Donald Young

Girls’ Singles Champion: Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka

Donald Young is best known for his 17 match losing streak in 2012, the third longest in history, which perhaps says a bit about his career. Much was expected of Young during the early part of his career as he was hailed as one of the torchbearers of American tennis, which found itself so suddenly devoid of any stars. Young has failed to live up to the expectations though, with a career-high ranking of No.38, and a career which seems to be on a downward trend.

Azarenka though, is one of the true success stories of the junior circuit. The Belarussian has gone from strength to strength over the years and is the two-time defending champion of the tournament she won as a girl back in 2005. Always talented, she struggled for consistency and in big match play in the early part of her career, but is now firmly one of the best players in the world and perhaps the only one who can give Serena Williams a run for her money. She has reached the pinnacle of the game, attaining the No.1 ranking in 2012 and looks set to be a top player for a few years to come.

2006:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Alexandre Sidorenko

Girls’ Singles Champion: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Alexandre who? Yup, I don’t know either. Sidorenko is a prime example of a player who found the going too tough once it got to ‘the real deal’. He has played only three major singles tournaments at professional level, the last of them being 5 years ago in 2008. With a career high singles ranking of 145, and a current ranking of 366, it is safe to say he has disappeared into tennis oblivion.

The girls singles winner that year, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is still one of the young players who has the potential to make it big. Having captured 5 singles and 4 doubles titles, the multiple Junior Grand Slam champion has also reached the quarterfinal stage of two grand slams in 2011, the year which also saw her attain her career high ranking of No.13. With Martina Hingis in her coaching team, things look bright for the Russian.

2007:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Brydan Klein

Girls’ Singles Champion: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

The 2007 winner, Brydan Klein is better known, if at all, for his six month ban back in 2009, for racially insulting his South African opponent, Raven Klaasen at a tournament in England. He is yet to compete regularly on the ATP tour, and at the age of 24, finds himself running out of time. A history of bad behaviour on-court prompted Tennis Australia to withdraw support to him in 2012, prompting him to switch allegiance to Great Britain, the country of his mother’s birth. A highest ranking of No.174 achieved four years ago is the best this Australian-British tennis player has to show.

2008:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Bernard Tomic

Girls’ Singles Champion: Arantxa Rus

Bernard Tomic

The 2008 boys singles champion, Bernard Tomic is one of the well-known names on the ATP tour today, often for the wrong reasons. Still hailed as Australia’s next big hope, the 21 year-old has often shown that he has still not matured enough to take on that mantle. A fractured relationship with his father does not help, and he was involved in an ugly saga last year, where his father physically hit his hitting partner, making headlines across the world. Still, Tomic has the game to make an impression and has produced some stellar runs at Slams, most notably at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. If he manages to get his temperament in check, he could be one to look out for in the years to come.

Arantxa Rus, from the Netherlands, is best known for her upsets of Kim Clijsters and Samantha Stosur at the 2011 French Open and the 2012 Wimbledon championships respectively. She is yet to win a title on tour, and suffered a 17 match losing streak last year, which has seen her current ranking drop to a lowly 164 in the world.

2009:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Yuki Bhambri

Girls’ Singles Champion: Ksenia Pervak

Yuki Bhambri

India’s very own Yuki Bhambri won the Australian Open Boys’ Singles crown in 2009, generating massive hype and buzz around the country who have been more accustomed to champions in the doubles game. Bhambri though, has failed to reach the level set by his peers, Bernard Tomic and Grigor Dimitrov and is still to make a mark on the ATP Tour. Having said that, he played well in the Challengers last year and an impressive showing at the Chennai Open this year shows that maybe this year, he will make a name for himself on the full professional tour.

Ksenia Pervak has achieved moderate success in her short career thus far, her most notable achievement being defeating Top 10 player Caroline Wozniacki last year in Brisbane. A fourth round result in Wimbledon 2011 is her best result thus far, which helped her to her career high ranking of 37 that year. She seems to have lost her way in recent times though and finds herself out of the top 100 at the start of this year.

2010:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Tiago Fernandes

Girls’ Singles Champion: Karolina Pliskova

Tiago Fernandes

Tiago Fernandes from Brazil won the Boys’ Singles championship at the 2010 Australian Open and is coached by Larry Passos, former coach of his illustrious countryman Gustavo Kuerten. Fernandes started competing on the senior tour in 2011, but has found the going tough so far, with his highest ranking being in the mid 300’s. However, at just 20 years of age, and with a decorated coach among his backroom staff, he still has time.

Karolina Pliskova has done better. She managed to win her first title on the WTA tour last year, when she won in Malaysia, defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the final. Along with her twin sister Kristyna, she also managed to capture a doubles crown in Linz last year, which has helped her crack the top 100 in both singles as well as doubles.

2011:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Jiri Vesely

Girls’ Singles Champion: An-Sophie Mestach

Jiri Vesely

Jiri Vesely is currently the youngest player in the world’s top 100 and has two Challenger singles titles to his credit. Last year saw him make major strides as he made his debut for champions Czech Republic in the Davis Cup and also entered the main draw of the 2013 French Open, the first time he had done so. Constantly improving, he is one to watch for the future.

An-Sophie Mestach won the girls’ singles crown in the same year that her compatriot, Kim Clijsters finally won the ladies singles crown, in what was perhaps a sign that Belgian tennis was here to stay for a while yet. Clijsters herself speaks highly of the youngster and backs her to be a star one day. It is still early days for the 19 year old on tour, and 2014 could be the year when she finally breaks into the top 100 and qualifies for the main draw of a Grand Slam.

2012:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Luke Saville

Girls’ Singles Champion: Taylor Townsend

Taylor Townsend

Luke Saville could be the future of Australian tennis, a country which is desperately searching for a hero. Saville won the Boys’ Singles championship after losing the final the previous year, and made his professional Grand Slam debut at the same event last year. It is still early days for the youngster but has the backing and support of an entire nation.

Taylor Townsend won the girls’ singles title at the age of just 15 and had a stellar year through the juniors that year, though most of them came in doubles. It was in doubles that she reached her first final last year at the Citi open as well, partnering fellow youngster Eugenie Bouchard. There are some issues about her weight though, with her being controversially asked to sit out of the 2012 US Open juniors due to her being overweight, and she will have to focus on her fitness to complement her powerful game. She is yet to turn 18 though, and the next few years will be interesting.

2013:

Boys’ Singles Champion: Nick Kyrgios

Girls’ Singles Champion: Ana Konjuh

Ana Konjuh

Kyrgios made it two in a row for the Aussies when he won the 2013 Australian open juniors. Along with Saville, he is earmarked as one to watch in the Aussie tennis scene and made quite a major impact last year, when he gained entry into the main draw of the 2013 French Open and shocked Radek Stepanek in the first round. Kyrgios also managed to make it into the main draw of the US Open and made his debut for Australia in the Davis Cup playoff towards the end of the year. He has already managed to break into the top 200 and will seek to build on his impressive results in 2014.

Ana Konjuh won the title at just 15 years of age, in a year where she was also triumphant at the US Open. More success followed her Australian Open win as she was called up to the Croatian Fed Cup team, where she managed to stun World No.37 Ursula Radwanska. Konjuh has decided to focus fully on the senior tour from this year onwards, and made an impressive start to the year, defeating top seed Roberta Vinci in the first round at Auckland, before falling to Lauren Davis.