Tennis Europe Junior Tour

Junior Players of the Year powered by Polar

Junior Players of the Year powered by Polar

The Player of the Year powered by Polar award is given to three best-performing European players in the 14 and 16 & Under age categories of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour according to the final Race to Junior Masters ranking of the season. The #1 player in each group receives a state of the art Polar RS800 CX computerised training wrist watch, and all winners receive a diploma.

Over the years, the award has proven to be a reliable indicator of future success, with former recipients including many of today’s top players, including stars such as Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Marin Cilic, Gael Monfils, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.

Boys 14 & Under

1. Mikael Yemer (SWE)
Surprisingly, Yemer becomes the first ever Swedish recipient of a Player of the Year title, capping a year in which he followed several of his legendary compatriots (including Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander and Robin Söderling) in winning the Tour’s biggest prize, the European Junior Championships. Yemer also won three other titles, and has been ranked within the Top 5 since May after beginning the year outside the Top 100.

2. Mate Valkusz (HUN)
Valkusz perfomed well in all of the biggest events on the Tour, winning bronze medals at the European Championships and Junior Masters, as well as becoming the first Hungarian boy in over 20 years to win the European Doubles title (with Akos Kotorman). Throughout the year he won a total of five doubles and two singles titles and was ranked in the Top 20 all season.

3. Eduard Güell Bartrina (ESP)
One of three Spanish Junior Masters champions this year, Güell saved his best tennis for the tail end of the season, leading his team to the Summer Cups title before going on to win singles and doubles at the Category 1 Barcelona event and dominating the Junior Masters. As the season drew to an end, he reached his first 16 & Under final at Sanxenxo, where he also won the doubles title.

Girls 14 & Under

1. Dalma Galfi (HUN)
With just five losses in 44 matches, Galfi had an outstanding year, making at least the final in eight consecutive tournaments, winning 6 singles titles (including two at 16 & Under level) and 3 doubles, and ending the season in style with a win at the Junior Masters.

2. Olga Fridman (UKR)
Having spent much of the season at the top of the rankings, she was forced to withdraw from the Junior Masters, later returning to #1after winning her first 16 & under title in Biel. Prior to that she had dominated the 14 & Under circuit, winning Category 1 titles in Stockholm, St. Genevieve des Bois and Paris, and becoming the first Ukrainian girl to claim the European 14 & Under Championship title. 

3. Viktoria Kuzmova (SVK)
Kuzmova started the season by reaching the final of her first five tournaments, winning titles at two events in Milovice, a Category 2 event In Trnava, and leading her team to the finals of the Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD. After reaching the top of the rankings in February and March, she played more sporadically, winning a first 16 & Under title in Zabrze and claiming the European 14 & Under Doubles title with Tereza Mihalikova in July.

Boys 16 & Under

1. Petros Chrysochos (CYP)
Having finished second in 2011, Petros Chrysochos joins a small band of players to have won the Player of the Year title twice. 2012 was the most successful year yet for the Cypriot, who spent the entire season ranked in the Top Ten, winning three singles and four doubles titles as well as claiming the bronze medal at the Tennis Europe Junior Masters.

2. Jaume Antoni Munar Clar (ESP)
Munar played his first Tennis Europe Junior Tour event of 2012 as late as June, but went on to rack up a series of impressive wins, ending the season with a 24-3 win/loss record that saw him capture titles in Aviles and the Category 1 event in Barcelona before going on to dominate at the Junior Masters, a run which saw his ranking rise by over 470 places.

3. Daniel Orlita (CZE)
An incredibly consistent performer, Orlita lost before the quarter finals just once in ten tournaments, and reached the finals of seven events, collecting three singles and one doubles title and increasing his overall ranking by 300 spots during the season. 

Girls 16 & Under

1. Iryna Shymanovich (BLR)
A second consecutive season as a Player of the Year is Shymanovich’s reward for a strong showing throughout the summer, during which time she collected back-to-back singles and doubles title at events in Milan and Crema, before going to add a second Category 1 title in Barcelona and reach the final of the Junior Masters.

2. Aliona Bolsova (MDA)
The first player from Moldova to receive a Player of the Year title, Bolsova recorded a string of successes throughout the season, starting with singles and doubles victory at Chambon-sur-Lignon in February and going on to reach another 4 singles and 4 doubles finals, winning the Category 1 Montecatini singles title and three other doubles events.

3. Anna Bondar (HUN)
Bondar lost just four times in 2012, establishing one of the Tour’s longest win streaks as she won 21 singles matches to win titles in Budapest, Novi Sad and Milovice before finishing as runner-up in Milano. She also won two doubles titles and claimed the bronze medal at the Tennis Europe Junior Masters.

 

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