Les Petits As offers more to American juniors with new USA playoffs

You don’t have to venture far down the tennis-YouTube rabbit hole to unearth one of its grainy gems: a junior match between a pair of immensely talented 13-year-olds, Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet. Viewed by more than 1.6 million people, this clip shows two future No. 1s—Gasquet in the juniors, Nadal in the pros—and the qualities that would make them the household names they’d eventually become. Nadal’s court coverage and topspin forehand, along with Gasquet’s opportunism and elegant one-handed backhand, are on full display here, to the delight of the French crowd.

The match, played at the prestigious Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste junior tournament, foreshadowed what was to come in tennis, just as it has each year since in Tarbes, France.

Nearly two decades after Gasquet won Les Petit As in 1999 (Nadal won it a year later), the uber-competitive under-14 tournament continues to give fans the best indication of which juniors may strike it big in the pros. Dinara Safina won the title in 2000; Andy Murray was runner-up a year later. Timea Bacsinszky won it twice, in 2002 and 2003. Roger Federer was a quarterfinalist in 1995, the same year Justine Henin reached the final. Michael Chang, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters are just part of the tournament’s legendary honor roll.

That honor roll has an unmistakably American component. Twenty-six Americans have either won Les Petits As or finished runner up, including Lindsay Davenport, a finalist in 1990. Frances Tiafoe won the tournament in 2012, and CiCi Bellis claimed the title a year later.

The 2016 edition saw another U.S. champion, Stefan Leustian:

Despite heavy challenges from European nations, the U.S. has built a legacy of success at Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste. It makes the tournament’s first international qualifying event—hosted this week in the United States—a natural fit.

“It’s the way to assure the participation of the best kids from all around the world,” says Jean-Baptiste Simeon-Knaebel, director of the Les Petits As - USA Playoffs Lacoste. “The tournament is ruled by Tennis Europe and all the best Europeans are selected through their ranking. In order to avoid any mistake in delivering wild cards, the playoffs system will allow us to select the best kids from all continents.”

Held this week at Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Florida, Les Petits As - USA Playoffs Lacoste will award boys and girls entry into January’s main event in Tarbes, France. Sixteen boys and 16 girls were invited to the hard-court tournament based on their USTA ranking or by USTA coaches. After a round-robin stage, the field was whittled down to eight quarterfinalists on in each draw. (You can follow the boys' and girls' draws here.) The champions and runners-up will earn passage to Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste. Winners of the third-place match will be rewarded with a wild card to the International’s Qualifications of Les Petits As – Le Mondial Lacoste à Tarbes.

Some of the players who progressed to the quarterfinal stage in Florida include Katrina Scott (won the Corpus Christi ITF tournament in 2017), Robin Montgomery (won the Girls’ National Hard Court Championships 14U in 2017), Evan Wen (ranked No. 6 in USTA Boys 14s), Victor Lilov (2016 B12's Orange Bowl champion) and Jonah Braswell (2017 B14's Clay Court finalist).

Also advancing was 13-year-old Bruno Kuzuhara, who began the tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Lucas Brown:

Martin Blackman, general manager of player development at the USTA, played a significant role in forging this unique relationship. Tecnifibre, a recent acquisition of Lacoste, is the event’s technical partner, providing strings and balls. And Lacoste, the title sponsor, will outfit the staff and continue to reinforce a tennis connection that spans an ocean.

“Being number one tournament in the world of the category is great, but always fight to improve ourselves is much better,” says Simeon-Knaebel. “We are in the sport field and the most important is what happens on the court. That means we always need to have the best players. This is the reason why we innovate a Playoff tournament.

“French and foreigners define us as a unique event in the world—we want to keep this reputation!”

In France, there are 50 pre-qualifying tournaments to Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste. It would take one qualifying tournament in every state for the U.S. to match that level of connection. But what the United States may lack in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The field at Club Med is refined and hungry, and you only need to consider Cori Gauff's recent success in Tarbes, and what it led to back home, to envision her future potential. The 13-year-old American began 2017 with a semifinal run at Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste, and went on to reach the final of the US Open junior tournament.

With Les Petits As - USA Playoffs Lacoste, France's tennis connection to the United States is stronger than ever.

“Our wish is to remain number one,” says Thibault Olliver, Digital Manager of Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste, which is streamed live from Tarbes each year. “Americans can follow us in this huge adventure in the other side of the Atlantic through our social media.”

Jon Glover, USTA National Coach, discusses the experience of Les Petits As - USA Playoffs Lacoste: