Snooze, you lose: Pareja defies belief to continue winning streak
Type Julieta Pareja’s name into a search engine of your choice and one of the fun facts which appear is that the 16-year-old can sleep anywhere at any time.
It is not a bad skill to have as a tennis player, with huge uncertainty surrounding match schedules and start times, and a quick snooze may well knock the edge off any linger tiredness.
Pareja was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning, however, and was first on Court No. 4, dispatching fellow American Flora Johnson 6-2 6-2 to surge into the third round at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon.
“I can sleep anywhere at any time – that is definitely true, Pareja told itftennis.com. “If I have to wait a long time before my match, I will happily take a 20-minute or one-hour nap and then I’m ready. It helps me to relax and then I’m ready to go.”
This is only the second grass-court tournament Pareja has contested in her career, and she is yet to lose a match on a surface which has a tendency to bamboozle and take time to settle upon.
The teenager enters this tournament having lifted silverware at J300 Roehampton – the traditional warm-up event for junior players ahead of Wimbledon – and equalled the biggest junior title win of her career.
As an aside, seven of the previous 12 girls to have triumphed at J300 Roehampton have gone on to win the girls' singles title at Wimbledon, although the last to do was Liv Hovde – incidentally another American – in 2022.
“I am benefitting from getting a load of matches on grass,” said Pareja – a member of the United States team crowned 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors champions.
“It is a surface that not a lot of people get to play on regularly, so winning those matches has given me a lot of confidence, although I am still going match by match.
“I don’t like to get ahead of myself. I like always to have the same level because it is tennis and anything can happen. But I played well today. I was super focused from the start, going for my shots and being intense.”
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Pareja has enjoyed a exceptionally productive campaign this season and as well as her victory at J300 Roehampton she also claimed victory at J300 Indian Wells and J300 Barranquilla.
She has combined competing on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors with gaining exposure at professional events and in April she reached the semi-finals at the WTA event in Bogota.
It was a stellar performance as she became the youngest female player to reach the semi-finals of a WTA event since Coco Gauff in 2019. She is currently ranked No. 340 in the WTA Rankings.
“I wasn’t surprised by my level there, quite honestly,” added Pareja, who won the maiden professional title of her career at W15 Rancho Santa Fe on the ITF World Tennis Tour in June 2024.
“It was more the type of tournament I did it at. I didn’t necessarily think I would get to the semis of a 250 event, but I wasn’t surprised by my level as I have worked hard on the practice court, and I know it’s there.
“My mum is the one who keeps me grounded. She is always travelling with me and I’m super grateful for that. She is here, and my dad was able to get to Roland Garros. My family keep me grounded.”
This run to the last four would have been particularly special for Pareja given she is a player of Colombian descent. Her mother, Adriana, is originally from Bogota while her father, Pablo, was born in the United States but has Colombian heritage.
“I am super proud to be Colombian as well as American,” said Pareja. “I try and get to see my grandparents a couple of times a year – they live there together with some aunts and uncles – and being able to speak Spanish really comes in handy also.”
A full list of results from the 2025 Junior Championships, Wimbledon can be viewed here.