The ITF/Tennis Europe 14 & Under Touring Teams are currently halfway through a five-week trek through some of Europe’s toughest junior events.
Thanks to the Grand Slam Development Fund, a total of 16 players from 10 developing tennis nations are being accompanied by four coaches as they combine valuable experience of top-level international tournaments with some intensive training.
Touring Teams are just one way in which Tennis Europe and the ITF deliver financial, practical and expert assistance for players from, in this case, Tier 1-3 eligible nations. Many current top players, including the likes of Simona Halep and Grigor Dimitrov, benefitted from a place on the teams as part of their early development.
The 2019 teams have already posted some impressive results, with the ‘A’ team’s Oliver Ojakaar finishing as runner-up at the Cat.1 event in Dueren, while the ‘B’ team saw Aleksandra Gabrovska win singles last week in Augsberg and Viktor Markov win the week before in Ulm. Meanwhile Kanan Gasimov & Atakan Karahan have established a strong doubles partnership, taking consecutive titles in Ulm and Augsberg.
Team A
Coached by Goran Shevchenko & Vanja Ibrahimovic
Oliver Ojakaar (EST)
Adriano Dzhenev (BUL)
Iliyan Radulov (BUL)
Oliver Byskata (FIN)
Daria Yesypchuk (UKR)
Alisa Baranovska (UKR)
Jana Stojanova (MKD)
Luca Udvardy (HUN)
Team B
Coached by Irina Chichmarova & Dimitar Labudovic
Iva Jovanova (MKD)
Aleksandra Gabrovska (BUL)
Lika Bolkvadze (GEO)
Natali Jaiani (GEO)
Viktor Markov (BUL)
Kanan Gasimov (AZE)
Atakan Karahan (TUR)
Edin Mulalic (BIH)
The teams are taking part in tournaments in Renningen/Rutesheim (GER, A team) and Nivelles (BUL, B team) this week before taking a step up in their final events. The B-team will travel to Barcelona for the Category 1 Sánchez-Casal Youth Cup, while the A-team moves on to Regensburg, where they will try their hands at the 16 & Under BMW Junior Cup.
We’ll have a full round-up following the conclusion of the tours.