HIS mother found not shortage of success and winning overseas, so American Jagger Leach is hoping to follow in her footsteps when he takes the court in the J100 at Brisbane this week. The top seed is ranked 55th, and while he has a long way to reach the heights his three-time Grand Slam-winning mother Lindsay Davenport did, he will hope a strong performance at hte tournament lifts him into the top 50 on the ITF Junior rankings.

The 16-year-old is currently ranked 55th in the world and is coming off a remarkable 2023 season where he took home four titles, including two J100 trophies in Auckland and San Jose. A committed College player to Texas Christian University in the future, Leach bowed out to Aussie Hayden Jones in the second round of the Australian Open.

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In 2023, Leach had a 46-15 record, predominantly on hard court where he managed 38-11 for the year, and the surface he finds himself on at Brisbane. The top seed started last year with a 15-0 record and three titles, and though he has taken a different path this year, will be favourite at the J100 event in the Sunshine State.

Leach has earned a bye in the first round of the 48-player draw, moving into the second round to await Aussie Lachlan McFadzean – a fellow 16-year-old and world number 390 – or a qualifier. Of the automatic entries, 27 are Australians, with second seed Hugh Winter the biggest challenger to Leach’s title. Ranked 65th in the world, Winter will be gunning to surpass his career-high of 60th after a loss in the opening round of the Australian Open to world number 25 Mees Rottgering.

Following a heavy defeat at Melbourne Park in the opening round, Cruz Hewitt – son of Grand Slam champion Lleyton – will back up at Brisbane with the world number 194 fourth seed at the event, showing he drop in top-end talent outside the top couple of players. Hewitt is a 2008-born player who only turned 15 in December.

Meanwhile in the girls’ tournament, the top seed is Chinese Taipei’s I Wen Wan who is just inside the top 100 and closing in on her career-high of 91st achieved at the end of last year. I Wen also suffered an early defeat at Melbourne Park, going down to American Aspen Schuman. She won her maiden title 12 months ago on the clay at Mornington where she was the third seed.

Like the boys’ singles, Australia boasts the second seed in 16-year-old Kristina Tai. Ranked 214th in the world, Tai is yet to win a junior title, but Brisbane looms as her best opportunity to-date. She also has a bye in the opening round.

The other major junior event is the J100 in Manacor, Spain which is run by the Rafa Nadal Academy. In the boys’ singles, Japanese 17-year-old Naoya Honda is top seed, with the world number 95 the sole player inside the top 100 at the event. For the girls, the clear top seed is 17-year-old Swedish hope Bella Bergkvist Larsson.