Tennis Europe Junior Tour

Belgium & Czech Republic crowned Nations Challenge by HEAD champions

Belgium & Czech Republic crowned Nations Challenge by HEAD champions

Belgium (boys) and Czech Republic (girls) have won this year’s 12 & Under Tennis Europe Nations Challenge by Head. Playing in Biot, France, the Belgians overcame the defending champions Croatia in the final play-offs.  In Ajaccio, Corsica (France), the Czech girls successfully defended their title, keeping Latvia at bay in their final.

Group Stages

A total of 63 national teams had taken part in the qualifying competitions, which were held from 26th-29th July across Europe. Two teams from each of the four groups qualified for the final rounds, played over the past four days, and were grouped as follows:

Boys | Photos
Group A: Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Turkey
Group B: Croatia, France, Romania, Ukraine

Girls | Photos 
Group A: Czech Republic, Great Britain, Italy, Serbia
Group B: Latvia, Netherland, Russia, Ukraine

Each team played against other nations from the same group in a Round Robin format, with the winners of each group facing off in a final play-off. After the Round Robin stage, Belgium and Croatia ended up undefeated in their groups, and thus advanced to play each other in the boys’ final. The Czech girls romped through their group undefeated (in ties and rubbers) and thus qualified for the final, where they were joined by Latvia.

Finals

The first match of the boys’ final was a cracker and went the distance. Sebastian Cauhape survived a second set thrashing to grind home a 7-5 1-6 7-6(3) victory for the Belgians over Fran Rakonic to put them up 1-0. Louis-Lou Langenaken had an easier time in his 6-4 6-0 win over Antonio Voljavec. The doubles match was not played, with Cauhape & Louis Maurau handed a walkover and thus a 3-0 finals win for Belgium.

On day one, they had defeated Turkey 2-1, clinching the tie in the doubles. On Friday, the Belgians whitewashed the Brits 3-0 and then set themselves up for the final with a 2-1 win over Italy. Croatia defeated Romania 3-0 on Thursday and then saw off both Ukraine and France 2-1 to advance to the finals. The win over France ended the host nation’s hopes of becoming the first ever country to win all four European summer team competitions (12, 14, 16 and 18 & Under) in the same year, and was a first-ever Nations Challenge title for Belgium.  

In the girls’ final, the Czechs were simply too strong for their Latvian counterparts, relinquishing a maximum of three games in each match. Sara Bejlek got the Czechs off to a strong start with a 6-1 6-2 win over Elizabete Brutane. Nikola Bartunkova kept the momentum going, posting the same scoreline in her victory over Valerija Maija Kargina. Bejek & Tereza Valentova sealed the deal with a 6-3 6-0 routing of Brutane & Marina Markina to complete a 3-0 win for the Czech team and ensure that the title would remain in Czech hands for a second successive year.

The Czech girls were in scintillating form throughout the four days, failing to give an inch in any of their ties, coming through with 3-0 victories in all of them. Italy was the first to be beaten 3-0 on Thursday. On Friday it was Great Britain’s turn in the firing line, while on the Saturday Serbia also capitulated 3-0 to the Czechs. Latvia’s route to the final was fraught with peril, as they had to rely on mathematics to get them through.

Both Latvia and Russia had lost a match each in the Round Robin stage. Although Russia got the better of Latvia 2-1 in their encounter on Thursday, Russia lost to Ukraine 1-2 on Friday and then defeated Netherlands 3-0 yesterday. Latvia, however, beat both Netherlands and Ukraine 3-0. Latvia advanced to the final instead of Russia, despite having lost to them, by virtue of a having a better win-loss percentage. Although the Latvians were already leading 2-0 in their other ties, they fought out nailbiting championship tiebreak wins against both Ukraine and Netherlands to end up winning both rubbers 3-0. Latvia’s progression highlights just how important it is for teams to play all rubbers in these tournament formats.

Boys Final Standings:

1. Belgium
2. Croatia
3. France
4. Great Britain
5. Ukraine
6. Italy
7. Romania
8. Turkey

Girls Final Standings:

1. Czech Republic
2. Latvia
3. Great Britain
4. Russia     
5. Ukraine
6. Italy
7. Serbia
8. Netherlands

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