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TENNIS
Victoria Azarenka

Junior titlists find tough going winning 'real' Slams

Bobby Chintapalli
Special for USA TODAY Sports
Victoria Azarenka,  of Belarus, reacts after defeating Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, during the fourth round of the  U.S. Open  Monday.

NEW YORK -- There's something special about Victoria Azarenka when it comes to the U.S. Open: She's the only Open junior girls' singles champion left in this year's women's draw.

The 16th-seeded Azarenka, who won the girls title in 2005, defeated Aleksandra Krunic Monday night to make it to the women's quarterfinals, where she'll play 17th seed Ekaterina Makarova.

Does that give her an advantage here?

"No, because I think you have a seen a lot of junior players who won, you know, juniors and we never saw them again," said Azarenka. "It's whole different world… Mentality, the preparation, the physical aspect, I think is just night and day."

If Azarenka goes on to win this tournament she'll become even more special -- only the second woman to win U.S. Open junior and women's singles titles.

Holding that distinction alone is Hall of Famer and current tennis commentator Lindsay Davenport, who won the girls' title in 1992 and the women's title in 1998.

Davenport agreed that winning a Slam girls' title doesn't give an advantage in going for the women's title: "No – didn't cross my mind," she said. "But funnily enough a 'devastating' loss at the French Open juniors semis has always stayed with me."

She also got specific about differences between girls' and women's events: "You need one big strength to win in juniors, but in the pros you need a few. It's easier in the juniors to hide weaknesses, but the pros are skilled in breaking them down."

For Azarenka, from Belarus, this would not be the first time she would accomplish the feat in a Grand Slam tournament. She won the girls' title in 2005 at the Australian Open, and won the women's singles titles in Melbourne in 2012 and 2013.

None of the nine other active women's Slam singles winners has won a girls' Slam singles title, in New York or elsewhere. Not Serena Williams or Venus Williams, who didn't even play juniors. Not Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Petra Kvitova, Li Na, Ana Ivanovic, Francesca Schiavone or Samantha Stosur.

A few came close. In 2001 Kuznetsova lost the French Open final to Kaia Kanepi and the U.S. Open final to Marion Bartoli. Kuznetsova has women's singles titles at each of those Slams. In 2002 Sharapova lost the Australian Open final to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and the Wimbledon final to Vera Dushevina. Sharapova went on to win the Wimbledon women's singles title two years later.

That wouldn't shock Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta, who'll play Serena Williams in the quarterfinals here. "For me, junior doesn't count… They are too young. They are baby. They still have to play, enjoy. It's completely different world, juniors to professional."

There are many factors that play into it. Davenport noted that some players need longer to develop their games. And some were encouraged to play women's events at an earlier age. "Take for instance Jennifer Capriati. She stopped playing juniors at 14. Clearly she would have won more junior titles," Davenport said.

No. 7 seed Eugenie Bouchard, who lost in the fourth round Monday, is proud of her 2012 Wimbledon girls' title. This year's Wimbledon women's runner-up even called the junior title the "proudest accomplishment in my career to date." Still there was this: "I think juniors and seniors, there's a huge level difference… (My) real goal is to win a real one."

A "real one" takes even more, suggested 2004 U.S. Open boys' and 2012 U.S. Open mens' winner Andy Murray after his fourth round win Monday: "When I won the juniors it seemed like, you know, a big deal. It gave me a lot of confidence… but I don't think it necessarily translates into winning the tournament as a senior. I know how much work there still is to be done from playing junior tennis to getting through to the seniors."

The only other men's players who've won both titles here are Stefan Edberg and Andy Roddick. This year Murray is joined in the quarterfinals by another U.S. Open boys' winner, Grigor Dimitrov, who won the title in 2008.

Among the women's quarterfinalists 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki won a Wimbledon girls' title (2006), and unseeded Belinda Bencic won French Open and Wimbledon girls' titles (2013).

For five-time Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis, there's much to be said for winning a junior title. Hingis, who retired from singles but still plays doubles, is in the doubles quarterfinal with Pennetta. She's won both girls' and women's Wimbledon titles. "Every big occasion helps you," Hingis said. "It's an evolution and every time you win you grow in confidence. It's huge. You feel like, 'Oh I belong here.' "

Hingis reeled off a list of contemporaries who won girls' titles – Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Conchita Martinez, Gabriela Sabatini and Jennifer Capriati.

Turns out only Sabatini and Capriati won junior titles. . The first four did not win girls' singles Slam titles.

In fact, there aren't a lot of players who've won both junior and senior Slam singles titles. That hasn't stopped winners from winning the "real" ones. Graf won 22 women's singles titles, more than anyone in the Open era.

"Other than the good memories I don't think there's any inherent advantage to a girls' champion when she tries to win the women's championship at the same Slam," says Colette Lewis, who's well-known for her coverage of junior and college tennis on her website zootennis.com.

Why are there so few women who've won both titles? The answer may be basic.

"The reason there are so few junior-senior winners is that there are so few winners period," says Lewis. "You just don't get that many opportunities at either, and particularly in the juniors, when realistically, you only have two or three years to attempt to win one."

Over the next week, Azarenka will attempt to become a member of the rarest of clubs at the U.S. Open.

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