Who are the junior players impressing in 2025?

Now seems an opportune moment to delve into the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and champion some of the players who have made an impressive start to the 2025 season.  

We have so far had just the one Grand Slam, but some compelling storylines emerged from the Australian Open Junior Championships as Henry Bernet and Wakana Sonobe clinched their maiden Junior Grand Slam singles titles. 

Bernet became the first Swiss player – boy or girl – to win a Junior Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, while Sonobe became the first Japanese girl to be crowned girls’ champion at the Happy Slam. 

The two J500 events which have taken place so far have also produced some intriguing narratives. 

Nellie Taraba Wallberg assumed the status of the first Swedish girl to win a J500 title when conquering all before her at J500 Cairo, while Andres Santamarta Roig is the first Spanish player to have won multiple J500s after winning J500 Gaspar. 

But now we are going to dig a little deeper and find some other movers and shakers on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors in 2025: 

• Ramazan Kaan Oktay of Turkiye, Hong Kong's Kai Thompson, and France’s Romain Azais are the Tour leaders when it comes to singles titles won in 2025. They have all won three. Oktay, who is currently ranked No. 226 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings, conquered all before him at back-to-back J60 Siroki Brijeg events and then J60 Antalya. Thompson, meanwhile, won the singles titles at back-to-back J60 Kathmandu events and then J60 Singapore – he is currently No. 264 in the rankings.  Azais won his titles at back-to-back events at J30 Maputo and then triumphed at J60 Addis Ababa. 

• Oktay is also out in the front when it comes to the longest ongoing winning streak. His streak stands at 16 matches and includes his three title wins this season. Thompson is on a 15-match winning streak, while Azais has notched 14 successive match-wins. 

• Ten players have won a combined four titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors across singles and doubles this term. Azais (FRA), Joshua Adamson (CAN), Lila Grace Bachour (FRA), Edoardo Barbalaco (ITA), Jerald Carroll (USA), Aishi Das (NZL), Emily Victoria Eigelsbach (GER), Balthazar Huss (GER), Albina Kakenova (KAZ) and Onalee Wagner (LUX) have all been successful on four occasions across both singles and doubles. 

• In terms of doubles titles specifically, Bulgaria’s Yoana Konstantinova, Wagner, Czechia’s Tobias Cank, Roman Kharlamov and Niklas Maislinger of Austria are the Tour leaders with three doubles titles apiece. 

• The accolade for the most match-wins on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors in 2025 goes to Keaton Hance of the United States. The 16-year-old has so far chalked up 23 match-wins, three ahead of Oktay and Thompson. Those match-wins have seen Hance top the podium at J300 Barranquilla, contest the final at J300 Lima and reach the semi-finals at three other events. 

• The biggest mover in terms of rankings on the boys’ side is Hance, who has risen 181 places to No. 24 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys' rankings. Other risers of note have been Savva Rybkin, who reached the boys’ singles final at J500 Cairo. The 16-year-old now occupies No. 62 in the rankings having started the year at No. 232. The other player deserving of a mention is Argentina’s Romeo Arcuschin following his rise of 152 places to No. 92. 

• On the girls’ side, China, P.R.’s Zhang Ruien has risen 76 places – fuelled by the joint-best title win of her career at J300 Casablanca – to No. 38 in the ITF World Tennis Tour girls’ rankings. The accolade of biggest riser, however, belongs to Ishika Ashar of the United States, who has risen 81 places to No. 89. This follows her runs to the finals at J300 Barranquilla and J200 Santo Domingo. 

These are just a few names with which to conjure as the 2025 campaign continues to unfold, but others will most certainly flicker on this particular radar as the season progresses.