‘Save the best for last’. The famous song of Vanessa Williams could also be the anthem for the 21st edition of the European Junior Championships. On the last day of a week of high-level competition with the two heroes from Graubünden Simona Waltert (quarterfinalist) and Jakub Paul (gold medal in doubles) we can expect two outstanding singles finals, also as a compensation for the weather trouble in the first part of the week. Let’s take a closer look at the singles finalists...
Marta Kostyuk: The Ukrainian justified her top seeding. After a bit of early difficulties - she conceded 17 games in the first two matches, but got stronger and stronger, losing only a total of 8 games in her next three matches. In the semi-final she ran over Daria Kuczer of Poland who was tired after her effort on Friday versus Waltert. Since January, Kostyuk has become a household name among tennis insiders. At only 14 years and 7 months she won the Australian Open junior title (Under 18), and beat Rebeka Masarova in the final at Rod Laver Arena. Experts see a future top star in her, and she already has one gold medal under her belt following the doubles victory.
Kaja Juvan: The number 6 seed from Slovenia had to fight hard to beat her Serbian friend Olga Danilovic, with whom she had conquered the Wimbledon doubles tournament a couple of weeks back. The 16-year-old from Ljubljana won the Orange Bowl last December and was recently a finalist at the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Roehampton. At Wimbledon she lost to her final opponent: Kostyuk.
Zsombor Piros: It took the number 2 seed from Hungary some time to get his engine started in the high level opening round versus Swiss Henry Von der Schulenburg but also in later rounds he had to come from behind several times. However, it seemed that he was able to adapt his game to the score at leisure and he hasn’t lost a set yet. He already has two Grand Slam titles to his name this year; the Australian Open in singles and the French Open in doubles, and added a doubles bronze medal to his collection here in Klosters.
Corentin Moutet: The top seeded French player has had a similar tournament to his female counterpart Kostyuk, improving continuously over the course of the tournament. In the semifinal, he didn’t lose a single game against the tired Russian Alexey Zakharov, taking revenge for a loss at Roland Garros. Since the abrupt end to last year’s final versus Stefanos Tsitsipas, where he retired before matchpoint, he has improved considerably. The skilled lefthander is on the way to establish himself among the professionals; having won several titles at ITF Futures tournaments, he has already advanced to number 339 in the ATP ranking.
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