Tennis Europe Junior Tour

With the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990, the Tennis Europe Junior Tour was also created. Founded in 1990 with 43 tournaments over two age groups, the Junior Tour has since grown and been divided into three age groups; 16 & Under, 14 & Under and 12 & Under, and as of 2022, these three categories combined for a total of some 450+ tournaments, staged across almost all 50 member nations of Tennis Europe, and with the participation of over 12,000 players, including non-European players, such as Lleyton Hewitt, Kei Nishikori, Juan Martín Del Potro, Guillermo Coria, and Sania Mirza, who all got their first taste of European competition on the Junior Tour. ==Overview==

After playing national junior events in their home countries, talented young players then usually proceed to compete internationally, on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour. Players begin their pathway with Category 3 events and work their way up to competing at the U14 Super Category tournaments (dubbed as the 'grand slams' of the U14 circuit), the European Championships, and the season-ending Junior Masters. The Tennis Europe Junior Tour also boasts a cumulative weekly ranking, 'Player of the Year' awards (former recipients include Rafael Nadal, Grigor Dimitrov, and Kim Clijsters), and a season-ending Masters tournament for the top eight performers in each category (the equivalent of the ATP Finals). The ITF Junior Circuit is thus basically the player pathway between the junior game of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour and the elite levels of professional tennis of the ATP. Two team events also exist for the top players from each age category (U12/U14/U16): The Tennis Europe Winter Cups and the Summer Cups, which provide youngsters with an early opportunity to compete for their countries. These events are where many future Davis and Billie Jean King Cup champions earned a first taste of team competition. The U14 events serve as the European qualifying for the ITF World Junior Tennis tournament, while the U16 events are the European qualifying for the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup. All three of them date back to the founding of Tennis Europe in the mid-1970s. ==Tournament grades==

U12 Circuit The 12 & Under Tour differs in that no rankings are produced, and there are no Masters or European individual championship events, though the summer team event has been widely acclaimed. U14/16 Circuit The 14/16 & Under Tour events are played at three levels, ranging from the elite Category 1 events, which attract the strongest draws, to the more numerous and accessible Category 2 and 3 events. The Super Category status was awarded to 5 of the Tour’s best-performing and most prestigious events in recognition of their extraordinary performance: The ONE-SGM Christmas Cup held in Khimki, Les Petits As held in Tarbes, Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris held in Stockholm, the Taça Internacional Maia held in Maia, and the U14 International German Tennis Championships held in Düren. No one has ever won all of them, but Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal have both won three of them, with Gasquet only missing the Masters while Nadal only failed to win the Championships. In 1991, the finalists of Petits As, Răzvan Sabău and Juan Antonio Saiz, also reached the final of the U14 European Junior Championships, with Sabău winning both of them. Furthermore, Todor Enev reached both finals in 1996, but lost both of them. In the U14/16 Circuits, boys and girls events in both singles and doubles events are held at all tournaments, with some offering additional consolation tournaments for early losers. In addition to their results, some juniors are more focused on player parties, cultural exchanges, and tourist trips during the events. ==See also==