ATA Chosen To Host Qualifying Event For ‘Les Petites As’ Tournament

Les Petites As is the most prestigious event in the world for 14U junior tennis players. This competition has witnessed the first steps of many champions such as Michael Chang, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Lindsay Davenport and, recently, Alexander Zverev, Frances Tiafoe and Coco Gauff. And this year, the road to compete in Les Petites As for American players will begin at the Austin Tennis Academy and five other locations across the country.

The US Playoffs Lacoste series is open to EVERY American player (boys and girls, 14 and under, born in 2007 or later), and will see events happening in California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas. The Series Events will be hosted between June 12 to 28, 2021 and all player selection, seeding and the draw will be based on verified UTRs for each player. The top 32 boys and the top 32 girls will be selected for each event.

The qualifying event at Austin Tennis Academy takes place June 26-28. Registration is now open and will close on June 20 at 12:00 pm CDT.

The winners of each Series Event (6 boys and 6 girls) will qualify for the USA Playoffs Lacoste along with 20 other players (10 boys and 10 girls, 14 and under) selected for direct entrance (list of players to be communicated soon) for a total of 32 American players (16 boys and 16 girls, 14 and under) who will compete at the USA Playoffs Lacoste in Florida from July 25 to 29, 2021 to qualify.

Out of those 32 players competing at the US Playoffs Lacoste, 8 players (4 boys and 4 girls, 14 and under) will earn a spot to represent the United States at Les Petits As – Le Mondial Lacoste scheduled for September 4 to 12, 2021 in France. Among the 8 participants, that would include the following boys and girls: • Winner of the USA Playoffs Lacoste (Wild Card Main Draw) • Runner-up of the USA Playoffs Lacoste (Wild Card Main Draw) • 3rd place Finisher of the USA Playoffs Lacoste (Wild Card Main Draw) • 4th place Finisher of the USA Playoffs Lacoste (Wild Card Qualifier)

Les Petits As – Le Mondial Lacoste is an international tennis tournament considered as the world championships for 14 and under players. Normally, it takes place each year in January at Tarbes, France, except this year because of the global pandemic it has been postponed to September of 2021.