Junior Update by Har-Tru: Thibault Dominates in Central America

It is harder to deliver a stronger three-week run than what Ève Thibault just did in Central America.

The recent U16 and U18 national doubles champion tore through a pair of events in El Salvador and a J100 in Guatemala, reaching five of a possible six finals (singles and doubles) and scoring four titles.

Here is the monthly junior tennis update presented by Har-Tru.

Starting the week of May 18, Thibault was borderline unstoppable. First, she played back-to-back J60 events in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, reaching the singles and doubles finals at both. She won both doubles titles with Sandra Victoria Talamo Pinto of Venezuela and secured the singles title at the second event, crushing top seed Alison Julieta Oliva Ramirez in the final 6-0, 6-1.

^{Photo : Jean-Claude Thibault}

Even though she only won one of two singles titles at the Santa Tecla events, Thibault largely dominated the field. The only sets she lost were in the final of the first event. In her other nine singles matches in El Salvador, the 16-year-old lost a mere 18 games, an average of two per match, with nine of those games coming in her semifinal at the second J60 event. She won as many bagel sets as she had sets where she lost more than two games (four) in total across the 10 singles matches.

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Then it was on to Guatemala, where Thibault dominated the doubles field at the J100 event. She had lost a couple of sets in her two title runs in El Salvador but in Guatemala, she and her Mexican partner Hanne Estrada Cortes cruised. The pair secured the title without dropping a set, knocking off the top-seeded team in the semis and third seeds in the final.  

Even though her singles finals streak was broken, Thibault still got to the semis in Guatemala where she was edged out in two tight sets by the top seed Ellery Mendell.

The three doubles titles in three weeks nearly doubled Thibault’s career haul on the ITF junior tour, bringing her up to seven overall. The J100 win in Guatemala matched the biggest title of her career. The J60 singles win at the second Santa Tecla event was the biggest of her three singles titles.

Here are the Canadian finalists from ITF Junior Tour events outside of Canada over the last month (titles in bold):

• Ève Thibault: J60 Santa Tecla 2 girls singles champion, J60 Santa Tecla 1 girls doubles champion, J60 Santa Tecla 2 girls doubles champion, J100 Guatemala girls doubles champion, J60 Santa Tecla 1 girls singles runner-up  
• Rafael Bote: J60 Champaign boys singles champion, J60 Champaign boys doubles runner-up
• Thomas O’Neill: J60 Managua boys singles champion, J60 Santa Tecla boys singles runner-up
• Isabella Ruyu Yan: J100 Punta Cana girls singles champion
• Conor Beston: J30 Christiansted boys doubles champion
• Alexie Duclair: J60 Abidjan girls singles runner-up, J60 Abidjan girls doubles runner-up
• Avery Alexander: J200 Hanover girls doubles runner-up (w/ Lagaev)
• Nadia Lagaev: J200 Hanover girls doubles runner-up (w/ Alexander)
• Leah Schwarz: J30 Christiansted girls doubles runner-up
• Natalie Tsatsalashvili: J60 Managua girls doubles runner-up

Nadia Lagaev was the lone Canadian representative in the junior draws at Roland-Garros. She lost in the first round of both singles and doubles.

ITF in Canada

There was no rest for the 2026 ITF Junior season in Canada, with four more events taking place over the last four weeks, two in the Maritimes and two in Alberta.

Overall, the Canadians acquitted themselves well at the four tournaments, securing 11 of the 16 possible titles outright, while sharing a further two doubles titles.  

Of the four events, the hosts managed a sweep in Fredericton, led by Sophie Dement who won both the girls singles and doubles titles, teaming with Andrea Taylor in the latter. Dement was the only Canadian to win two titles over that stretch, although Brielle Amey, Andy Tchinda Kepche, and Taylor all finished as runners-up at least once as well as claiming at least one title.

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Here is the full list of winners from the Canadian ITF Junior events over the last month. Winners are Canadian unless otherwise indicated: 

The ITF Junior Tour is not slowing down any time soon. There is a J30 event taking place in Ottawa this week, with tournaments in Winnipeg and Kamloops also taking place in June.

Rankings Update

Nadia Lagaev remains the top Canadian in the ITF Junior rankings at No. 42. Avery Alexander, who reached a J200 doubles final with Lagaev in May, is on the brink of cracking the Top 100, currently sitting at No. 106.

Three Canadian boys currently sit inside the Top 100: Benjamin Azar (No. 55), Xavier Massotte (No. 63), and Felix Roussel (No. 74). 

Check out the full ITF junior rankings here.

Feature Photo : Jean-Claude Thibault