Last week's Tennis Europe Junior Tour action was highlighted by the Category 1 16 & Under event in Warsaw, where several of the Tour's top players were battling to outdo each other in the Race to qualify for the Junior Masters.
Bohdan Tomaszewski Cup - Warsaw, Poland
Ukrainian players Viacheslav Bielinskyi and Olga Molchanova scored big victories in Warsaw, winning their finals matches over local opposition. The wins will be a boost to both players in the Race to Masters, as the points will give Molchanova hope of qualifying, while Bielinskyi’s win will return him to #1 in the Race to qualify for the season-ending finale in Reggio Calabria (ITA). The doubles titles did however fall into the hands of local players, but the news of the week was the victory of the two Ukrainians.
The number two seed made great strides, sailing into the semi-finals before being tested by the Austrian Marko Andrejic. The top seed from the Czech Republic, Ondrej Horak, advanced to the semi-finals but was ousted in straight sets by local favourite and unseeded player Maks Kasnikowski. The final, in contrast, was a tighter encounter with very little between the two. Although it was a straight set win for Bielinskyi, Kasnikowski put up a great fight, but the match and title eventually went to the Ukrainian 7-6(3) 6-4. Bielinskyi was knocked off the top spot in the race last week by Peter Nesterov after the Bulgarian’s win in Sarajevo, but the Ukrainian’s victory in the Polish capital will see him straight back to the top spot.
The girls’ champion breezed into the semis with three successive straight set wins. In the semi-final, Molchanova came back from a set down, having lost it 5-7, to regroup and get the win over the second seed from Poland Zuzanna Szczepanska 5-7 6-1 7-5. This set her up for a final tussle with yet another Pole, the third seed Ada Piestrzynska. Her opponent in the final came through in blazing form, not dropping a set on route but was humbled in the finals by the Ukrainian, falling 6-4 6-2. With this win, her second of the year and first in the 16&U level, Molchanova will also rise substantially from 43 in the Race when the updated rankings come out on Tuesday.
In the boys’ doubles, Andrejic & Kasnikowski were able to earn themselves a victory. They defeated Horak & Daniel Damian Galuska in the semi-finals, and then went on to get a win over another Czech duo in the finals, defeating third seeds Alexandr Kolijev & Mathias Musil to lift the trophy. More joy for the host nation came in the girls’ doubles final, as Szczepanska played with her compatriot Karolina Bartusek to score a 6-1 6-0 win in the final over Italians Maddalena Giordano & Greta Schieroni.
Category 2
Juan Fuster Zaragoza - Benidorm, Spain (14 & Under)
Luka Novakovic (NED) and Carolina Gomez (ESP) were the winners in Benidorm, winning two very contrasting finals over Patrick Brady (GBR) and Ariana Geerlings (ESP) respectively.
Brady, the wildcarded fourth seed took out top seed Georg Eduard Isrealan (GER) in the semis, setting up a clash with the number nine seeded Dutch player. The final was a tough encounter especially the first set which went all the way to a tie break, eventually claimed by the Dutch player. A fightback in the second set got Brady level as the Brit took the match to a third. However, with just one break of serve in it, the match and title went to Novakovic 7-6(6) 2-6 6-3.
Girls’ champ Carolina Gomez was in scintillating form, not dropping one set all tournament. In the semi-finals she defeated the champion from Barcelona last week Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (AND) 6-3 7-5, setting up a final encounter against her compatriot Geerlings. Once again in blistering form, Gomez was relentless, giving her opponent very little leeway and cruising to 6-0 6-2 victory to pick up her first title of the year.
In the doubles, Russians Valery Gynina & Victoria Matasova were the girls’ champions, while Spaniards Alberto Garcia Garcia & Ivan Perez Martín were the boys’ champions.
For full results in all events and categories here and elsewhere from this past week, please click here, or to view the week's photo galleries, click here.