14 January 2015
The Nike Junior International returns to the USN Bolton Arena Friday 16 – Friday 23 January, with a host of top 14&under international players converging on the North-West.
The Nike Junior International Bolton is a grade 1 Tennis Europe 14&under event, and since the inaugural event as Teen Tennis in 1995, has attracted a very strong field of rising stars from across the globe.
A number of previous players have gone on to reach the world’s top 10 including Eugenie Bouchard, Caroline Wozniacki, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Ursula Radwanska, Lucie Safarova, Andy Murray, Marcus Baghdatis, and Tomas Berdych. The event has also seen other exciting young players such as Laura Robson, and Stefan Kozlov.
Players from over 20 countries will be converging on the USN Bolton Arena, including as far away as Canada, Japan, and USA. The boy’s list is headed up by Brit Jack Draper, who has recently become the number 1 ranked player in Europe. The 13 year old from Surrey, will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Andy Murray, who won the event in 2001, at the time becoming the 3rd British player to win the event. Bulgarian, Adrian Andreev, who is currently ranked 4 in Europe, will also be a strong contender for the title, as will the strong contingent of USA, and Canadian player’s.
Finland’s Oona Orpana, ranked 6 in Europe, is the highest ranked player in the girl’s event, and there will also be great interest around 12 year old Japanese player Himari Sato, who was top seed at the prestigious 12&U Orange Bowl event in Florida last month, finishing runner-up at an event often referred to as the unofficial world championships.
Richard Joyner, Tournament Director, says ‘This is my first full year at Bolton, and I’m really looking forward to it. The event is steeped in history, with a seriously good roll of honour, and it genuinely is a great chance to see some of the stars of the future. The number of players who have gone on to reach the world’s top 10, and win Grand Slam titles as professional players speaks for itself’
Qualifying is Friday 16 and Saturday 17 January, with main draw Sunday 18 to Friday 23 January,
Entry for spectators is free of charge throughout the week, with play starting 10.00am
As well as coming along to watch, you can also follow the scores through live scoring on www.lta.org.uk Whilst the updated entry list can be found at http://te.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/acceptancelist.aspx?id=2AD01DFE-4C82-4842-A49E420918FBFEF5