The junior tournament long known as the Eddie Herr has been the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships since 2024. It is still played at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and it still opens the two-week December run in Florida that ends at the Orange Bowl. The 18s are an ITF J300 on outdoor clay, with the 2026 main draws from 30 November to 6 December.
Its 18s champions include Marcelo Rios, Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian, Jelena Jankovic, Marin Cilic, Jelena Ostapenko and Felix Auger-Aliassime. This guide covers the 2026 dates, the entry and withdrawal deadlines, the draws, the ranking points and the champions.
At a Glance
- Official name: IMG Academy International Tennis Championships (listed by the ITF as J300 Bradenton)
- Venue: IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida
- 2026 dates: 24 November to 6 December across all age groups; 18s main draws 30 November to 6 December
- 18s grade: ITF J300, boys and girls
- 18s surface: outdoor clay
- Age groups: 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s
- Founded: 1987
The 18s: J300 Dates, Draws and Deadlines
The boys’ and girls’ 18s are the only divisions graded by the ITF. Each has a 64-player qualifying draw, a 64-player main draw and a 32-team doubles draw. Qualifying sign-in closes at 18:00 local time on Friday 27 November, qualifying starts on Saturday 28 November, and the main draws run from Monday 30 November to Sunday 6 December.
Entry closes at 14:00 GMT on Tuesday 10 November 2026, and the withdrawal deadline is 14:00 GMT on Tuesday 17 November. Both follow the ITF junior rule: entries close on the Tuesday 20 days before the Monday of the tournament week, and withdrawals on the Tuesday 13 days before. Players born between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2013 are eligible for ITF junior events in 2026. How the grades from J30 to J500 fit together is in our ITF junior grades explainer, and the entry codes on a draw sheet are in our guide to how to read a tennis draw.
The 12s, 14s and 16s
The younger divisions are a USTA international tournament played under ITF age-eligibility rules, but they carry no ITF grade. Each has a 128-player qualifying draw and a 64-player main draw. Qualifying sign-in is on Tuesday 24 November, main-draw sign-in on Sunday 29 November, and main-draw matches start on 30 November. The 2026 age groups are 12s born in 2014-15, 14s born in 2012-13 and 16s born in 2010-11. Applications closed on 13 October and entry is by selection; the organisers received more than 2,000 applications for about 1,500 places across the event.
Ranking Points
The 18s award J300 points in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings.
| Round | Singles | Doubles |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | 300 | 225 |
| Finalist | 210 | 157 |
| Semifinal | 140 | 105 |
| Quarterfinal | 100 | 75 |
| Round of 16 | 60 | 45 |
| Round of 32 | 30 | – |
The table gives no points for qualifying at a J300. A junior’s ranking counts the six best singles results of the last 52 weeks plus 25 per cent of the six best doubles results. The Orange Bowl a week later is a J500, worth 500 to the champion, 350 to the finalist, 250 for a semifinal, 150 for a quarterfinal, 90 for the round of 16 and 45 for the round of 32.
The Florida Double
Bradenton and the Orange Bowl run in consecutive weeks. The 2026 Orange Bowl, a J500 on clay at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center in Fort Lauderdale, is from 7 to 13 December, with qualifying from 5 December and an entry deadline of 17 November. Together they close the junior year’s big December fortnight, which comes after the ITF Junior Finals and the Junior Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
History
Eddie Herr founded the Orange Bowl in 1947. The Bradenton tournament that carried his name was founded in 1987 by his grandson, Glenn Feldman. It became the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships for the 2024 edition. From then on, singles and doubles champions in every division have received the Nick Bollettieri Trophy, and the stadium courts were named the Bollettieri Stadium Courts. IMG Academy itself began in 1978 as the Bollettieri Tennis Academy. There was no 2020 edition.
The 2023 champions were given tour wild cards: the boys’ winner into the ATP 250 in Hong Kong in 2024 and the girls’ winner into the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi. No such prize has been announced for 2026.
18s Champions Since 2012
| Year | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Jordan Lee (USA) | Kristina Liutova |
| 2024 | Andres Santamarta Roig (ESP) [UNVERIFIED: IMG Academy champions list only; an RFET draw PDF could not be read reliably. Confirm against the ITF draw] | Teodora Kostovic (SRB) |
| 2023 | Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez (MEX) | Wakana Sonobe (JPN) |
| 2022 | Arthur Gea (FRA) | Mayu Crossley (JPN) |
| 2021 | Viacheslav Bielinskyi (UKR) | Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE) |
| 2020 | Not held | |
| 2019 | Thiago Tirante (ARG) | Eva Lys (GER) |
| 2018 | Nicolas Mejia (COL) | Zheng Qinwen (CHN) |
| 2017 | Adrian Andreev (BUL) | Whitney Osuigwe (USA) |
| 2016 | Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) | Maria Carle (ARG) |
| 2015 | Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) | Kylie McKenzie (USA) |
| 2014 | Reilly Opelka (USA) | Dalma Galfi (HUN) |
| 2013 | Kamil Majchrzak (POL) | Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) |
| 2012 | Christian Garin (CHI) | Ana Konjuh (CRO) |
Whitney Osuigwe’s 2017 final was a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win over Clara Burel. Jordan Lee, the 2025 boys’ champion, had won the 16s in 2024, and in July 2026 he won the Wimbledon boys’ title as a qualifier, beating Cruz Hewitt 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. Kristina Liutova won a WTA title in Memphis in August 2026 at 16.
Earlier 18s Champions
- 1993: Marcelo Rios (CHI), later world No. 1
- 1994: Anna Kournikova (RUS)
- 1996: Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
- 1997: Xavier Malisse (BEL)
- 1998: David Nalbandian (ARG) and Virginie Razzano (FRA)
- 1999: Andy Roddick (USA), later world No. 1
- 2001: Jelena Jankovic, later world No. 1
- 2002: Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
- 2004: Jeremy Chardy (FRA) and Monica Niculescu (ROU)
- 2005: Marin Cilic (CRO) and Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
- 2007: Melanie Oudin (USA)
- 2009: Denis Kudla (USA) and Daria Gavrilova (RUS)
The younger divisions have their own roll of honour. Maria Sharapova won the 16s in 2000. Grigor Dimitrov won the 14s in 2005 and the 16s in 2006, Eugenie Bouchard the 16s in 2008 and Ashlyn Krueger the 16s in 2019. Madison Keys and Bernard Tomic won the 12s, in 2007 and 2004, and Anastasia Potapova and Marta Kostyuk won the 14s in 2014 and 2015.
For juniors moving up, the professional route runs through ITF events and, for men, the second tier; how that tier works is in our ATP Challenger Tour explainer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Eddie Herr still played? Yes. The same tournament has been called the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships since 2024.
What grade is it? The 18s are an ITF J300. The 12s, 14s and 16s are not ITF-graded.
What surface is it played on? The 18s are on outdoor clay.
When is the 2026 entry deadline for the 18s? 14:00 GMT on Tuesday 10 November 2026.
Season Snapshot (as of 7 November 2026)
- 18s entry deadline: 14:00 GMT, Tuesday 10 November. Withdrawal deadline: 14:00 GMT, Tuesday 17 November.
- 12s-16s: applications closed on 13 October; the refund deadline for withdrawals is 11 November.
- Fees: $170 for the 12s to 16s; $100 for 18s registration and $150 for the 18s main draw.
- Defending 18s champions: Jordan Lee and Kristina Liutova.
- Orange Bowl: 7-13 December, Fort Lauderdale; entry deadline 17 November.
This snapshot is dated and will change. The career record above does not.
