Bulgaria and Croatia have each won Europe’s summer 12 & Under team competition – the Tennis Europe Nations Challenge by HEAD – for the first time.
At the girls’ final rounds in Ajaccio (FRA), the Bulgarian team topped their round-robin group, winning matches against Croatia, Czech Republic and Romania to set up a final with the winners of Group B, Belarus. Of the two teams, Belarus had been arguably the more impressive in the early stages, dropping just one match as they came from behind to defeat Russia on the second day of competition.
Bulgaria seized control early on in the final however, as Stela Peeva scored a routine 6-3 6-3 win over Evialina Laskevich to put her team ahead. Katerina Dimitrova then secured the tie – and the winner’s trophy – by defeating Aliona Falei 6-4 6-2, securing an unassaible 2/0 lead. The Belarusians managed to score a consolation point in the doubles, Laskevich and Ilaryia Grudino recovering from the loss of the first set to score a 3-6 6-3 [10-6] win over Dimitrova and Denislava Glushkova.
Bulgaria thus becomes just the fourth nation to the win the girls’ competition, with Russia (5 titles), Ukraine (3) and Romania (1) having accounted for all previous editions.
The boy’s final rounds were held at the Mouratoglou Academy in Biot (FRA), and saw Russia emerge to face Croatia in the final. The Russians had gone unbeaten in singles on their way to the final, losing dead doubles matches to Bulgaria and Czech Republic, and scoring a 3-0 rout of Italy in the first three days of the competition. Croatia also advanced serenely to the final showdown, winning both singles against Great Britain before completing 3/0 wins over Belgium and Romania.
As could be anticipated, the final proved to be hotly contested. Croatia’s Mili Poljicak scored first for his team with a 6-3 7-5 win over Konstantin Zhzhenov. The two #1 players were next onto court, and Russia’s Mikhail Gorokhov proved to be the stronger, as he dismissed Dino Prizmic for the loss of just three games to level the tie.
The four players returned to the court for the deciding doubles match, which went right to wire. After splitting the first two sets 6-4, a tense champions’ tie-break followed, with the Croats eventually securing a 10-8 win, enabling them to lift the European 12&U team title for their country for the first time.
Draws and Results
Boys' Finals - Biot (FRA) | Nominations | Group A | Group B | Results | Photos
Girls' Finals - Ajaccio (FRA) | Nominations | Group A | Group B | Results | Facebook | Photos