Ukrainian players dominated this year’s ITF/Tennis Europe 14 & Under Development Championships which took place in Antalya, Turkey on 15-25 March. The event, which was hosted by the Turkish Tennis Federation, attracted players from 18 countries and comprised a two-day training camp followed by back-to-back Category 2 Tennis Europe Junior Tour tournaments.
Top seed Denys Klok (UKR) won the boys’ singles titles in style, sweeping through both draws without dropping a set and defeating his compatriot Vladyslav Chumak in the final of each tournament. Chumak & Klok also combined to win the doubles events. The first week’s final saw them overcome the Estonian pair of Mattias Siimar & Kristjan Tamm 1-6 7-6(4) [10-6]. The following week saw the Ukrainians overcome another Estonian partnership - second seeds Mikalai Haliak & Maxim Tybar – to win the final 6-3 6-3.
Klok now holds a total of six Tennis Europe Junior Tour titles, and strengthens his position as the European #2 as a result of his fortnight in Antalya, whilst also leading the Race to the Masters rankings. Chumak meanwhile climbs to fourth overall – a rise of 92 places since the beginning of the year.
There was further Ukrainian success in the girls’ events, where unseeded Natalya Malenko (UKR) proved to be the star, beating her top seeded compatriot Anastasiya Klymenko (UKR) 6-2 7-6(3) and 7-5 6-3 respectively in the final of the two tournaments. The girls also teamed up to win the first week’s doubles event over Vera Lapko & Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus 6-1 7-6(4) in the final. The Belarusians took their revenge the following week, upsetting their rivals in the semi-finals before going on to win the tournament, with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Krista Cerpina & Gundega Pastore from Latvia.
The tournament wins – Malenko’s first on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour – contribute to a ranking rise of 89 places over the fortnight and see her improve her win/loss record to 11/2 so far this year.
ITF/Tennis Europe Development Officer Hrvoje Zmajic commented: “Thanks to the ITF/Tennis Europe Development Programme, the Development Championships have once again helped a number of our smaller nations to compete in this high quality tournament. The facilities here in Antalya are first class and with ten matches over ten days, all players and coaches were able to make the most of the opportunity to work on their games and gain international experience.”
A number of today’s top professionals, including Victoria Azarenka and Marcos Baghdatis, have benefitted from playing this event in the past. Full draws and results from the event, plus a photo gallery, can be found here.