There’s a double celebration for the Czech Republic after the country became just the second nation ever to sweep both the boys’ and girls’ titles at the 12 & Under Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD last weekend.
Playing in Sunderland (GBR), the girls’ team fought their way to victory past the champions of three of the last four editions, easing to 2/1 wins over Russia and Ukraine in their opening matches by winning both singles rubbers each time.
Romania emerged as finalists from the other side of the draw, putting in dominant performances to beat Turkey and France 3/0. The opening match of the final would turn out to be key, as Linda Noskova (CZE) recovered from the loss of the first set (5-7) to eventually overcome Alexandria Petric 6-2 6-4 in almost two and a half hours of play.
Linda Fruhvirtova then managed to seal victory for the Czechs, accelerating away after a close firsts et to beat Vanessa Popa Teiusanu 6-4 6-1. There was one more match to go however before the Czech could celebrate winnig the title for a second time, and Agata Cern joined Fruhvirtova to complete the 3/0 sweep over Petric and Michelle Wetherall in the doubles.
Over in Veska, the Czech boys 12 & under team had the benefit of home turf for their final rounds, and it showed in a comfortable 3/0 win over Turkey in their opening quarterfinal match. The semi-final was a nail bitingly close battle for the home fans though. 1-1 after the singles matches, Matthew Donald and Oldrich Vejsicky battled for almost two hours to overcome Cesar Bouchelaghem & Pierre Ngijol Carre 5-7 7-5 11-9 to finally confirm their spot in the final.
Sunday’s final was another tough scrap after Russia’s Nikita Bochkarev took the opening singles tie in a two-hour, three set match against Vejsicky. Matthew Donald wasted no time in levelling the score though, conceding just three games to Mikhail Gorokhov to take the match to a deciding doubles rubber. Here Gorokhov was joined by the fresh legs of Konstantin Zhzhenov, but the experienced home pair once again asserted their authority – and maintained their unbeaten streak in doubles in the competition – to secure the match, and the title, in just under an hour of play.
The Czechs will have a further chance for team event glory this weekend, with Czech teams qualifying for the final rounds of each of the remaining Winter Cups categories – boys and girls 14 and 16 & Under. Keep up with all the latest scores here.
Draws and Results
Boys Finals - Veska (CZE) - Nominations | Draw | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Photos
Girls Finals - Sunderland (GBR) - Nominations | Draw | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3