The Race to Monte-Carlo, powered by Smartshot is over! Next stop: the Tennis Europe Junior Masters.
Tennis Europe has announced the names of the 32 participants due to take part in the Junior Tour’s season-ending extravaganza, to be staged at the Monte-Carlo Country Club later this month.
This year’s line-up is particularly strong; all four #1s in the Race will be present, aiming to capture the prestigious title and secure the year-end top ranking. Between them, the players have won 1,211 matches on the Junior Tour this season, accruing a total of 71 singles titles. ⏩ Skip to the Player Profiles.
20 nations will be represented in Monaco; Czechia and Serbia lead the way with three participants each. Ukraine, Switzerland, Great Britain, Slovakia, Portugal, Cyprus and Bulgaria all have two players in action. None of the qualifiers have participated in previous editions of the event.
The Class of 2026
The Boys’ 14 & Under Race went to the wire, with the final spots only being decided at last week’s World TEC Cup in Barcelona, where winner Rafael Papoian, runner-up Anastasis Mosaikos (CYP), Luis Saraiva (POR) and Bruno Dzhenev (BUL) all did enough to secure their spots. The draw will be led by European Junior Championship silver medallist and Avvenire Super Category champ Richard Mitchell of Switzerland. British pair Liam Sharkey (#2) and Oskar Laskowski (#6) and Slovakia’s Martin Adamca (#3) round off the list.
The girls’ 14 & Under field is headed by Eva Maria Bulai of Romania, finalist in singles and doubles at two Super Category events, just ahead of Milan champion and European silver medallist Mariia Kocherzhenko of Ukraine. All three Czech participants – Beata Maresova, Kristyna Nikodymova and Nicole Kurylova – feature in this category, rounded off by Olivia Conticello (#3, ITA), Alexandra Janoskova (#8, SVK) and Lily Falkenberg (#9, SUI).
Two players finished the girls’ 16 & Under Race tied for the #1 spot. Zana Peric claimed more singles titles than any other qualifier in this age group (5), an incredible achievement for a player that is also currently the reigning Carlos Moyá 12 & Under Festival champion. A win for the Serbian would make her the first player ever to win the season-ending 12&U competition and the Masters in successive years, though simply qualifying in the more senior age category is already a stunning achievement. Co-#1 Lydia Panagiotidou (GRE) leads the other contenders, having already proved that she enjoys playing at tennis’ most iconic venues with her win at the Rome Super Category event held at the Foro Italico. Another notable player is Christine Graf, who becomes the first girl from Monaco to qualify directly for the tournament since the event moved to its home of Monte-Carlo in 2021. She’ll be sure to receive plenty of home support.
The boys’ 16 & Under category is led by another Peric: incredibly, Zana’s elder brother Igor Peric also finished in pole position, marking the first time that siblings have done so. He’s facing opposition from compatriot Luca Kostic, Denmark’s Nicholai H. Pedersen – a four-time tournament winner in 2026 – and Arno Avetisyan, among others. The first Armenian ever to qualify for the Masters, Avetisyan has accrued plenty of experience this year – on five occasions he reached both singles and doubles finals at the same event, sweeping both titles three times.
A partnership with Orange Lion Sports gave rise to the 2026 Race to Monte-Carlo powered by Smartshot. All matches from the Junior Masters will be streamed live by Orange Lion Sports, integrating their Smartshot AI tennis system: an advanced tool that captures every rally in real time and generates highlight videos for analysis or sharing.
Live scoring will be provided by Tennis Europe's official Live Scoring and Data Partner, IONSport. Throughout the year, IONSport’s team provides a unified scoring and data ecosystem for over 500 tournaments and team events held at over 300 venues in 45 member nations, bringing consistent scoring, centralized data delivery, and enhanced digital experiences to the Junior Tour.
Join us at tenniseurope.org for live coverage of the event, which will take place from 21-24 October at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, where it is hosted by the Monegasque Tennis Federation.
The round-robin format sees the eight qualifiers in each age group (girls and boys aged 14 & Under and 16 & Under) split into two groups of four. The final day of action will see the group leaders face off for the titles, as all players participate in play-off matches. Now it's time to meet the players...
14 & Under
16 & Under