- 01 Apr 2010, 00:45
#1823413
Junior Number One, Pro Number What?
Having a spectacular junior career is by no means a guarantee for success on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Three of the 27 former ITF junior world No.1s (since 1994) eventually rose to No.1 in the pros, three have won singles Grand Slams and 13 have gone on to win at least one Tour singles title. Of course, some of those players are still at the beginning of their pro careers, so have plenty of time to bulk up their resumes.
The following is all the players who have been ranked No.1 in the juniors since 1994 and who have cracked the Top 100 on Tour:
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
Highest Pro Ranking: No.6 ... Tour Singles Titles: 3
Junior Slams Won: 2005 Australian Open, 2005 US Open
Cara Black (ZIM)
Highest Pro Ranking: No.31 ... Tour Singles Titles: 1
Junior Slams Won: 1997 Wimbledon, 1997 US Open
Notes: Doubles success on Tour has far exceeded her singles, as she has won 53 doubles titles - including five Grand Slams - and has spent the second-most weeks in Tour history ranked No.1 in doubles.
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)
Highest Pro Ranking: No.29 ... Tour Singles Titles: 1
Junior Slams Won: 2004 Wimbledon
Notes: Has three doubles titles on Tour, including one Grand Slam.
Jelena Dokic (AUS)
Highest Pro Ranking: 4 ... Tour Singles Titles: 5
Junior Slams Won: 1998 US Open
Vera Dushevina (RUS)
Highest Pro Ranking: 31 ... Tour Singles Titles: 1
Junior Slams Won: 2002 Wimbledon
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)
Highest Pro Ranking: 14 ... Tour Singles Titles: 1
Junior Slams Won: 2003 Roland Garros
Notes: Has 10 doubles titles on Tour.
Martina Hingis (SUI)
Highest Pro Ranking: 1 ... Tour Singles Titles: 43
Junior Slams Won: 1993 Roland Garros, 1994 Roland Garros, 1994 Wimbledon
Notes: Interestingly enough, despite two junior titles at Roland Garros, it was the one professional singles major that eluded the five-time Grand Slam singles champion ... Won 37 doubles titles on Tour, including nine Grand Slams, and was ranked No.1 in doubles for 35 weeks.
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)
Highest Pro Ranking: 1 ... Tour Singles Titles: 12
Junior Slams Won: 2001 Australian Open
Kaia Kanepi (EST)
Highest Pro Ranking: 18 ... Tour Singles Titles: 0
Junior Slams Won: 2001 Roland Garros
Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ)
Highest Pro Ranking: 35 ... Tour Singles Titles: 0
Junior Slams Won: 2004 Roland Garros
Anna Kournikova (RUS)
Highest Pro Ranking: 8 ... Tour Singles Titles: 0
Notes: Won 16 doubles titles on Tour, including two Grand Slams, and was ranked No.1 in doubles for 10 weeks.
Michaella Krajicek (NED)
Highest Pro Ranking: 30 ... Tour Singles Titles: 3
Junior Slams Won: 2004 US Open
Lina Krasnoroutskaya (RUS)
Highest Pro Ranking: 25 ... Tour Singles Titles: 0
Junior Slams Won: 1999 US Open
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
Highest Pro Ranking: 2 ... Tour Singles Titles: 12
Notes: Two of her Tour singles titles are Grand Slams ... Has 14 doubles titles on Tour, including one Grand Slam.
Amélie Mauresmo (FRA)
Highest Pro Ranking: 1 ... Tour Singles Titles: 25
Junior Slams Won: 1996 Roland Garros, 1996 Wimbledon
Notes: Two of her Tour singles titles were Grand Slams ... Was a silver medalist in singles at 2004 Olympics.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Highest Pro Ranking: 25 ... Tour Singles Titles: 1
Junior Slams Won: 2006 Australian Open, 2006 US Open, 2007 Australian Open
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
Highest Pro Ranking: 8 ... Tour Singles Titles: 4
Junior Slams won: 2005 Wimbledon, 2006 Roland Garros
Notes: She and Urszula Radwanska are only sisters to both achieve junior world No.1 ranking since records have been kept.
The following former No.1 juniors have yet to crack the Top 100 in the pros, however, most of them are still newcomers to the Tour: Eva Birnerova, Kirsten Flipkens, Simona Halep, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Kristina Mladenovic, Urszula Radwanska, Laura Robson and Arantxa Rus, María Emilia Salerni, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.