Orange Bowl, Eddie Herr and Why December in Florida Matters

For about four weeks every year, the best juniors in the world, from the 12-and-under divisions to the 18s, play their way across Florida. In 2026 it starts in Bradenton on November 24 and ends with the Junior Orange Bowl in the Miami area on December 19. Chris Evert, a two-time Orange Bowl 18s champion, said it plainly in December 2025: "It's the biggest international tournament in junior tennis." Here is what each event is, how you get in, and why the winners lists matter.

One trip, three tournaments

The IMG Academy International Tennis Championships come first, November 24 to December 6, 2026, in Bradenton. Most people still call it the Eddie Herr. It was renamed starting with the 2024 event. It has 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s divisions. The 12s through 16s each invite 128 players to qualifying and 64 to the main draw. In 2025 the 18s was an ITF J300 played on clay.

The Orange Bowl is for 16s and 18s. Since December 2025 it has been played on green clay at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center in Fort Lauderdale, after a $9.5 million renovation. In 2025 the 18s was an ITF J500, the highest grade on the junior tour below the junior Grand Slams. Its 2026 dates fall in the first half of December.

The Junior Orange Bowl is the 12s and 14s, December 12 to 19, 2026, in the Miami area. It draws more than 600 of the top-ranked players in the 12-and-under and 14-and-under divisions, from 76 countries.

One family started it all

Eddie Herr of Miami Beach founded the Orange Bowl in 1947. USTA Florida says he was worried that his daughter, Suzanne, and other Florida juniors did not have enough tournaments to play. In 1987, his grandson, Glenn Feldman, started the event in Bradenton that carried Herr's name for decades. When it was renamed, IMG said its winners would receive the Nick Bollettieri Trophy.

The winners list is the point

Look at who won the Orange Bowl 18s: Chris Evert in 1969 and 1970, Bjorn Borg in 1972, John McEnroe in 1976, Ivan Lendl in 1977, Roger Federer in 1998, Andy Roddick in 1999, Bianca Andreescu in 2015 and Coco Gauff in 2018. Bradenton's list has Maria Sharapova (16s, 2000), Marin Cilic (18s, 2005), Dominic Thiem (18s, 2010 and 2011) and Jelena Ostapenko (18s, 2013).

Winning both 18s titles in one December is called the Sunshine Double. Roddick did it in 1999 and Thiem in 2011. Thiago Tirante did it in 2019 and Andres Santamarta Roig in 2024. In 2025, Kristina Liutova won the 18s in Bradenton and reached the Orange Bowl final a week later. In August 2026 she won a WTA title in her first tour-level main draw.

How to get in

Entry closes early, and the field is picked by ranking. For Bradenton, the 12s through 16s register through the USTA by 11:59 a.m. on October 13, 2026, with a $170 entry fee and USTA membership required. The 18s enter through the ITF. The Junior Orange Bowl closes registration at 11:59 a.m. ET on October 15, 2026.

The 18s events at both venues follow ITF entry rules, which usually close entries 20 days before the Monday of the tournament week. J500 events can close earlier, so check the ITF fact sheet. Under the 2026 ITF points table, a J500 title is worth 500 ranking points and a J300 title is worth 300. If those grades are new to you, start with how the ITF junior tour works.

Should you go?

If your ranking gets you in, it is one of the best stretches of competition a junior can find, against players from every continent, on clay and hard courts, in the same few weeks. It is also a long, expensive trip, so plan it like the rest of your year. How many tournaments a junior should play is a good place to start. If your ranking doesn't get you in yet, follow the draws. The names you see in Florida in December tend to show up again.