The USTA Foundation Excellence Team once had representation at a junior Grand Slam at the recently-completed French Open.
Fourteen-year-old Clervie Ngounoue from Washington, D.C., was awarded a wild card and reached the second round in her junior Grand Slam debut.
A product of the Metropolitan Tennis & Education Group (MTEG) National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) chapter and the USTA Foundation Excellence Team, Ngounoue is currently ranked No. 80 on the international junior circuit and trains at the famed Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France. She reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of world No. 67 earlier this year.
Last year, Ngounoue finished as the singles runner-up and doubles champion at the Les Petits As in February, one of the most elite events for players under-14 in the world that boasts past champions including Rafael Nadal, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters. She was the girls' 16s singles runner-up and doubles champion at the famed Orange Bowl in 2019.
Ngounoue also played her first professional IT events at $15,000 level in Cario, Egypt earlier this year, and reached her first pro-level doubles final in May with Yasmin Ezzat.
In addition, Robin Montogomery, out of the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park, Md., was the No. 5 seed in the draw and reached the quarterfinals.
The two Americans also played doubles together, losing a tight opening match in a match tiebreak against the No. 5 seeds.