Ok, I give up. Can anyone point me in the direction of an explanation of the grades and rankings in junior tennis. The ITF site is proving impossible.
A couple of questions I have are:
Do the grades refer to age brackets, or is it purely on ability? (i.e a grade 5 would likely see exceptional 14 year olds and not so exceptional 18 year olds)
All it affects is the number of ranking points available for each match won. There are no limits on who can enter different grades - as long as you have a high enough ranking to get in the draw.
As with adult tournaments they are a rough guide to difficulty but grade 2 warm up events before slams usually have much stronger fields than some non-slam grade A events.
The top tier Grade A events are the 4 grand slams, Casablanca Cup (Mexico - just after Christmas), Copa Gerdau (Brazil - March), Trofeo Bonfiglio (Italy - May), Osaka mayor's Cup (Japan - October) and Orange Bowl (USA - December). In addition the Youth Olympics was granted Grade A status last year.
Grade 1 events include Roehampton (June), and there is a closed European Championships (July) which earns Grade 1 points, except a premium to the finalists, and hence is designated B1.
Grade 4 and 5 events are the most numerous, and easiest for low and unranked players to gain entry for.