Some of the world’s best junior players enjoyed enjoyed a Tuesday treat at Wimbledon as former ATP star Nicolas Pereira and current player Kimmer Coppejans joined WTA great Billie Jean King for a special education session at the grass-court major.

The session, which was delivered by the ATP, WTA, AELTC and the ITF, was the latest in a series of in-person education opportunities for elite junior competitors on the player pathway.

Pereira was a particularly apt choice to offer advice to the group of talented youngsters from across the globe. The Venezuelan won the junior titles at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in 1988, and went on to reach his career-high of No. 74 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 1996.

The current World No. 188 Coppejans, who is competing in the Wimbledon main draw for the first time this year after coming through qualifying, discussed his experience of transitioning to the professional game from junior tennis.

<img src="https://eltaszone.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/coppejans-pereira-billie-jean-king-offer-sage-advice-to-juniors-at-wimbledon.jpg" alt="Kimmer Coppejans/Billie Jean King”>

_{^{Kimmer Coppejans and Billie Jean King offered advice to top junior players on Tuesday at Wimbledon. Photo: Susan Mullane/ITF.}}

In her speech, the 39-time major champion King highlighted the importance of pre-match rituals and a competitive approach.

In addition, the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) education team were on site, talking to players about surrounding themselves with people they can trust and creating a positive culture within their teams, while encouraging questions to be asked on integrity matters should they arise. Such sessions are now commonplace at Junior Grand Slams and other events.

– This story features contributions from itftennis.com.