Sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the annual Hong Kong Open Junior Championships is part of the ITF World Junior Circuit in which top junior players from around the world battle for precious world ranking points, in addition to global and regional tennis supremacy. The accumulation of these ranking points from various tournaments during the year will ultimately go towards determining the year-end positions of these players.

Those who finish atop the singles and doubles rankings at season's end will be declared ITF Junior World Champions, and are traditionally honoured with their Senior equivalent at the ITF World Champions Dinner during the French Open Championships in Paris each year.

This summer, Thiemo de Bakker of Holland and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia were honoured together with Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne at the pre-Roland Garros gala as the Official 2006 ITF World Champions.

The Hong Kong Open Junior Championships had been a popular destination for many talented juniors around the world, especially with the Grade A Osaka Mayor's Cup just round the corner. Players of the calibre of Shuzo Matsuoka of Japan, Felix Barrientos of the Philippines, Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand (Champion, 1996), Xavier Malisse of Belgium (Runner-up, 1996), Aisam Qureshi, Andy Roddick of the U.S. (Runner-up, 1998), Chinese Taipei's Lu Yen-Hsun (Champion, 1999), and Wang Yeu-Tzuoo have all, at one time or another, strutted their stuff on the courts of Hong Kong over the years.

Local players who had competed at the Championships in the past included Colin Grant, Rolf Harrison, Derek Ling, Pang Lui, Paulette Moreno, Sven Koehler, Thorsten Poelzl, Melvin Tong, John Hui (Doubles, 1996), Jason Sankey, Wayne Wong (Doubles, 1998), Willy Chan (Runner-up, 1995), Jackie Fu, Tong Ka Po, Yu Hiu Tung (Runner-up, 2002), Jack Hui & Brian Hung (Doubles, 2002), and Martin Sayer, etc.

The ITF World Junior Circuit is a year-long series of under-18 tournaments aimed at improving competitive opportunities for all juniors alike, and had proven to be a thriving breeding ground for many of the world's elite juniors. Besides Federer (1998), many of today and yesteryear's leading men and women on the ATP and WTA Tours had, in fact, been past ITF Junior World Champions.

Names that spring to mind include Svetlana Kuznetsova (2001), Andy Roddick (2000), Sebastien Grosjean and Amelie Mauresmo (1996), Anna Kournikova (1995), Martina Hingis (1994), Marcelo Rios (1993), Gabriela Sabatini (1984), Stefan Edberg (1983), Pat Cash (1981), plus Ivan Lendl and Hana Mandlikova (1978).

Tournaments are graded according to the strength of entry, with the most ranking points being awarded for the nine major events (Grade A), which include the four Grand Slam championships, plus the Casablanca Cup, Copa Gerdau, Italian Open, Osaka Mayor's Cup, and the Orange Bowl. The Hong Kong Open Junior Championships commands, at present, a Grade 4 status.

ITF Junior World Ranking points are available at all tournaments. In order to hold a ranking in singles or doubles, a player must reach a round where points are available. The number of points available in each round will vary depending on the grading of the tournament and the round reached (See Tournament Grades).

For a more comprehensive look at world junior tennis today, please visit ITF's official weblet: www.itftennis.com/juniors.