Category 1
16&U | Città di Foligno | Foligno (ITA)
Croatia’s Petra Marcinko (pictured) has claimed the prestigious Category 1 event for her second title of the year. In what is becoming a breakout tennis season for the Croat, she was playing in her fifth singles final, and upset her higher-ranked Finnish opponent, Laura Hietaranta. Marcinko took her first ever Category 1 title with a 6-1 6-4 win, which will boost her position on both the 14&U and 16&U rankings. Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo was too strong for wildcard Luca Parenti (ITA), winning the boys’ final 7-5 6-4 for what was his first 16 & Under title on European soil.
Marcinko breezed through the early rounds, before upsetting the top seed Katerina Dimitrova (BUL) in a come-from-behind three set win. She then stymied Russian Anastasiia Gureva’s hopes of reaching her second final of the year, causing another three-set upset. Having conquered two of the tournament’s top 4 seeds, Marcinko was full of confidence and too strong for Hietaranta, who had earlier accounted for second seeded Ksenia Zaytseva (RUS) in a comeback win of her own.
The boys’ draw was thrown wide open after Polish second seed Filip Pieczonka fell in straight sets to Francisco Pini (ARG) in round 2 and opened up even more after the retirement of his top-seeded compatriot Olaf Pieczkowski just two games into his quarterfinal with [14] Aleksander Chayka (RUS). En route to the final, Vallejo had taken out sixth seeded Dinko Dinev (BUL), while Parenti shocked his third seeded compatriot Mariano Tammaro.
Boys’ doubles winners: Antonio Matteo Iaquinto (ITA) & Gabriele Piraino (ITA)
Girls’ doubles winners: Katerina Dimitrova (BUL) & Laura Hietaranta (FIN)
14&U | Torneo U14 | Palermo ITA
After falling at the last hurdle in Estonia last week across the border from her native Latvia, Valerija Maija Kargina has earned her first title of the year, fending off Britain’s Ranah Akua Stoiber in a tough final. The 6-3 2-6 6-4 win for Kargina came after her straight sets dismissal of top seed Yaroslava Bartashevich (RUS) in the semis.
The boy’s top seed Yaroslav Demin was ejected in the second round by unseeded Lennon Roark Jones (JPN). There were no hard feelings, of course, as the two combined to later win the doubles event. Roark Jones went on to make more waves by beating fourth seed Gabriel Debru (FRA) in the semi-finals to set up a meeting with second seeded Brit Luca Pow. Sailing into his second final of the year, Pow clinched his first winner’s trophy of the season with a well-fought 6-1 1-6 6-1 win.
Boys’ doubles winners: Yaroslav Demin (RUS) & Lennon Roark Jones (JPN)
Girls’ doubles winners: Eva Shaw (GBR) & Ranah Akua Stoiber (GBR)
Category 2
14&U | Memorial Goran Tanovic | Tuzla BIH
Luca Udvardy’s amazing year continues. Coming in to this event, she has played in four finals, one of which was in the 16&U event in Malta. The Hungarian has now played in her fifth final of 2019 and claimed a second title thanks to a 6-2 6-1 win over Jovana Grujic (SRB).
In the boys’ event, Edin Mulalic (BIH) made it two out of three in finals this year. On home soil in Tuzla, he upset another in-form player, Turkey’s Atakan Karahan 6-2 6-3. The Turk was playing in his third singles final of the year, and although it was not to be, the doubles trophy surely served as some consolation.
Boys’ doubles winners: Atakan Karahan (TUR) & Kerem Ozlale (TUR)
Girls’ doubles winners: Chiara Jerolimov (CRO) & Nera Tesankic (CRO)
For full results, scores and more from all the above tournaments, as well as other events from Week 23, click here.
For the latest photo galleries, click here.