IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge - 2024 Regionals Summary

Following a hugely successful 2023 finals in La Jolla, California, attended by Rod Laver himself, 2024 marked that start of the latest edition of the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge. The competition, which is the only IC event for juniors, aims to provide an opportunity for promising young players to begin a relationship with their respective ICs, travelling abroad to compete while also learning about new cultures in the true spirit of the IC. The competition runs in cycles of two years, with five regional events in year one, and a worldwide final in year two. This year, a total of 18 countries participated in the regional competitions and 6 will be competing in the upcoming worldwide final.

South America was the first regional event which kicked off in September in Argentina in the beautiful setting of the Martindale Country club on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The players were kindly hosted by members of the club and started their stay with a welcome cocktail party. Over three days of competition, the four participating teams – Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay – each played a match against one other in a round robin format. The level of competition was extremely high across the event and three of the six matches came down to the deciding mixed doubles tiebreak, creating a great atmosphere for the players and fans alike! Argentina emerged triumphant after a close battle with Chile and will participate at the worldwide final.

The next regional followed soon after in Europe, hosted in the town of Zaragoza by the IC of Spain. The European competition is the largest of the regionals with a total of eight teams from seven countries participating – Croatia, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and two teams from hosts Spain. The teams were split into two groups of four teams and spent three days playing a round robin. On the fourth day each team played off against the team of the same position in the opposing group to determine the final standings. Alongside the tennis the players were treated to dinner at a local restaurant, a closing dinner at the club, a sightseeing tour of Zaragoza and helped to run a philanthropy tennis clinic. After fighting off Spain 4-3 to top their box, Italy beat Great Britain in the final to win the regional. They will progress to the worldwide finals, and Spain will also have a spot as the host nation.

In November, the North American regional took place with first time hosts Barbados putting together a wonderful sequence of events for the players from Barbados, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Over three days of play the teams each played one another in a round robin event at the scenic Barbados Yacht Club, right on the beach! Despite frequent rain delays, the event progressed smoothly with Mexico defeating the USA in an electric mixed doubled shoot out to win qualification to the worldwide finals. Off court – in addition to enjoying the beachside location, players enjoyed a BBQ and participating in a philanthropy session with children from a local orphanage.

The final regional for Asia/Oceania was hosted in December by the IC of Singapore at the Winchester Tennis Centre. This regional featured only 3 teams – India, Japan and Singapore – so a round robin format was played where each team played each other over three days. On their days off the Indian and Japanese teams were taken on a sightseeing tour of the city by representatives from the IC of Singapore, and all teams had a welcome dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. Last year’s worldwide champions India were back with another strong team and won both their matches to qualify for the finals where they will have the chance to defend their title.

In previous editions of the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge there has been a fifth regional for Africa. However, in light of many difficulties including logistics and the lack of IC member countries in Africa, a decision was made not to hold an Africa regional this year. To ensure continued representation from Africa in the worldwide final, South Africa will be bringing a team selected from their U16 national’s competition. Over time we hope to work out a solution that allows a full Africa regional to be held again.

Full tournament reports and scorecards for the four regionals are available here.

2025 Finals

Now the regionals are complete, all eyes are turning to the 2025 Worldwide Final, which will take place on the historic courts of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona and Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in Spain. The event will be held from the 26th – 30th July 2025 and the IC committee and IC of Spain are busy finalising preparations for the event. As well as battling on the court for the trophies, the six teams will be able to enjoy a full programme of events including exploring the city of Barcelona, and bonding with each other over local food. We are very grateful to the IC of Spain for their hard work creating a memorable event for the players and look forward to sharing daily reports of the event on social media and the IC website when it all starts!

Participating ICs
Argentina
Italy
Mexico
India
South Africa
Spain (hosts)

Full Results

South America
Winners: Argentina
Runners up: Chile
3rd place: Brazil
4th place: Uruguay

Europe
Winners: Italy
Runners up: Great Britain
3rd place: Spain I
4th place: Slovenia
5th place: Norway
6th place: Spain II
7th place: Luxembourg
8th place: Croatia

North America
Winners: Mexico
Runners up: USA
3rd place: Canada
4th place: Barbados

Asia/Oceania
Winners: India
Runners up: Japan
3rd place: Singapore

Winterbotham IC Junior Series

After successful events at the National Tennis Centre and Albany Tennis Academy the third event in The Winterbotham IC Junior Series moved to the Raquet Centre at Baha Mar last weekend and broke records for young under 10’s and 12’s participating.

There were 46 juniors in this round robin series at Baha Mar for the youngest of competitors. Most juniors had 5 matches over the weekend to give them maximum experience and enjoyment.  This time there were even three overseas players in the Boy’s 12 & under from USA and Ecuador adding extra interest. Several late entries that came in after the close and the draw had been done could not be accepted or it would have been over 50 juniors - quite a challenge for the organisers with over 100 matches to be played !  Fortunately the weather held….although windy!

One great feature was that Karl Vukobrat, the Tennis Director at Baha Mar, converted their grass court in to 6 Mini Tennis courts with soft sponge balls. This was for fun play outside of the actual tournament. It was a great success with all the juniors and even some of their younger brothers and sisters who were not in the tournament. It was a superb mixer for everyone in a fun environment. 

Meanwhile it was tournament action Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday on six hard courts.  After the round robins there were play offs between opposite numbers all the way down each group.  The resulting winners in addition to their Winterbotham IC Trophies and a good tennis experience got a “Free Entry” to the major “Little Mo” tournament in Florida ( worth $200).

The winners were: Michael Major in the Boys 12’s who after some good matches held off the competition from the three overseas players with Tito Chavez from Ecuador the Runner up. In the girls 12’s Sierra Rogers won over her good friend Saphirre Ferguson. In the Boys 10’s it was a final of two Patricks with the young Patrick Mactaggart coming through over the older Patrick Mackey. In the girls 10’s Breann Ferguson won with Millie Beukes the runner up. The “Charlie Farrington” Sportsmanship award went to Saphirre Ferguson.  

The IC ( International Tennis Club) is an organisation of top tennis players with clubs in 40 countries and with the motto of “Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean”. It maintains tennis friendships and competition across all ages up to even 75 year olds. It also  to aims to give back to tennis - the “game for life”.  The IC is delighted with the success and participation in this series and extends a big thank you to both The Racquet Centre at Baha Mar and to Winterbotham Trust Company for their support.  The conduct of the juniors was excellent and supportive of each other. It is a great sign for the future of Bahamian tennis. It is quite possible all those competing could get tennis scholarships to University if they keep working at their games and their academics.  Either way they are making friendships and enjoying a game they can play all their life.

The main organisers at this series are IC Members  Neil Mactaggart, Mickey Williams, Bradley Bain and Kit Spencer. For more information on the worldwide IC organisation go to www.ictennis.net.