U.S. Junior Teams Announced

Recently, the USTA announced the top American juniors who will represent the United States in the Junior Davis Cup (16-and-under) and Junior Fed Cup (16-and-under) by BNP Paribas and the World Junior Tennis Competition (14-and-under) North/Central American and Caribbean Championships. Each event features a four-team round robin competition April 26-28 in Merida, Mexico. Other nations participating include: Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

The top two teams from each division in the North/Central American and Caribbean Championships in Mexico will advance to the 16-nation World Final. The World Junior Tennis World Final will be held August 13-18 in Prostejov, Czech Republic, while the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup World Finals will be held September 25-30 in Barcelona, Spain.

Junior Davis Cup & Fed Cup

Jared Donaldson, Cumberland, R.I. ; Gabrielle Andrews, Pomona, Calif. ; Ernesto Escobedo, West Covina, Calif.

Brooke Austin, Indianapolis; Stefan Kozlov, Pembroke Pines, Fla. ; Taylor Townsend, Stockbridge, Ga.

Coach: Nicolas Todero

 Coach: Kathy Rinaldi 

World Junior Tennis – Boys & Girls

William Blumberg, Greenwich, Conn. ; Jada Hart, Colton, Calif. ; Michael Mmoh, Temple Hills, Md.

Emma Higuchi, Los Angeles Frances Tiafoe, College Park, Md.

Raquel Pedraza-Simpson, Claremont, Calif. Coach: Ricardo Acuna

 Coach: Sylvain Guichard 

Kozlov and Townsend train full-time at the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., while Blumberg trains at the USTA Training Center-East in Flushing, N.Y., and all three members of the girls’ World Junior Tennis team train at the USTA Training Center-West in Carson, Calif.

The three members of this year’s Junior Fed Cup team comprised the 2011 Junior Fed Cup team which qualified for the World Final but did not compete due to security concerns, and also made up the 2010 World Junior Tennis girls’ team that won a fourth consecutive title for the U.S.

In 2008, the U.S. became the first country to sweep all four titles in the same year. In addition to 2008, the U.S. boys’ World Junior Tennis team won back-to-back titles in 2002-03, and the Junior Davis Cup team won the title in 1999. The 2008 title was the first for the Junior Fed Cup team.

Former U.S. junior international team members include Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Christina McHale, Sloane Stephens, Lindsay Davenport, Denis Kudla, Jennifer Capriati, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri, and Lisa Raymond.