The JC Ferrero Equelite Academy is once again the venue for this tournament that has Carlos Alcaraz, Davidovich and Paula Badosa among its many other great tennis players.

The first tournament on the international U18 circuit was held in Spain in 2001. Since then, the ITF circuit has evolved a lot, and this first tournament too. Since its inception, the venue for this tournament has always been the prestigious Juan Carlos Ferrero Equelite Tennis Academy. Today the Academy has nothing to do with that of those years. In the same way, the tournament grew and is one of the most consolidated in the world, only below the Grand Slams.

The old ITF J1 Villena Juan Carlos Ferrero Trophy changes its name for two reasons. The first is the official nomenclature of the International Federation that replaces the Grades (J5, J4, J3, J2, J1 and JA) by the points distributed by the tournament (J30, J60, J100, J200, J300 and JGS). The second is much more relevant. From this edition, its twenty-second, the tournament will honour the deceased father of Juan Carlos Ferrero. Eduardo, one of the main promoters of the tournament, passed away last year on the same dates that it was held. A nice way for the Equelite Academy to honour one of the most important people in its history.

Thus, for the XXII edition of the ITF J300 Villena – Eduardo Ferrero Memorial, more than 35 nationalities are expected. With a larger draw than the rest of the international junior tournaments in Spain, the best U18 players in the world compete for the title and to make sure they can enter the Roland Garros junior direct draw. The Villena ITF is one of the last to score to qualify.

We will have to closely follow the young promises of the contest. We must not forget that some of the tournament winners are now in the world Top, as is the case of the Academy player Carlos Alcaraz himself, Alejandro Davidovich, Andrey Rublev and Jaume Munar (both finalists in the same year at Equelite and Roland Garros). ), Paula Badosa or Darya Kasatkina.

This year the tournament promises to be just as interesting: Among the players to watch we have youngsters with a great future such as the current Australian Open Junior champion Alina Korneeva, the American Darwin Blanch who is the second youngest player in history to get an ATP point , or the Spaniards in contention who intend to emulate many of their references in the professional circuit and win the title. It will be necessary to closely follow Rafael Jodar, Carmen Juan, Albert Pedrico or Roger Pascual among others. Special attention deserves the Valencian Charo Esquiva who, at only 15 years old, has not given up a set on the international circuit this year and has been proclaimed champion of a J2 (J200).

The tournament will start with the qualifying phase on Sunday 19 and the main draw will start on Tuesday 21. The matches are open to the public so everyone is welcome to enjoy the best U18 tennis in the world and the opportunity to meet the promises of tomorrow at JC Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy