Russia became the first nation ever to contest the finals of all four Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD 14/16 & Under categories in the same year, and came away with 2 titles on the final weekend of the biggest indoor junior team competition in tennis.
A total of 121 national teams took part in the event, with the top eight teams in each category advancing from the qualifying rounds to last weekend’s final stages.
The first title to be decided was the boys’ 16 & Under in Ronchin, France, where took the first of their titles with a decisive win over second seeds Germany in the final. Andrey Rublev wasted little time in putting the top seeds in front, conceding just two games to Fabian Fallert in the opening singles match.
Roman Safiullin faced stiffer opposition against Alexander Zverev in the second singles, but managed to secure a break in the twelfth game of the second set to secure the title. Evgeny Tyurnev joined Rublev for the dead doubles match, as the pair beat Fallert and Tim Sandkaulen 7-6(3) 6-3 to complete a clean sweep.
The Russians were in a class of their own throughout the competition, winning their qualifying round matches against Finland, Italy and Belarus without the loss of a single rubber, before repeating the feat in their quarter and semifinal matches against Great Britain and Slovakia.
The win is just Russia’s second in this age category, and comes ten years after the first in 2003.
The Russian girls’ 16 & Under team was less fortunate at the finals in Vendryne, Czech Republic, where Switzerland fought back from a match down to beat the favourites for the title.
Darya Kasatkina put the top seeds ahead with a routine 6-2 6-2 win over Jil Belen Teichmann in the first match. Veronika Kudermetova then looked set to wrap up the tie for the Russians when she took the first set on a tie break over Chiara Grimm. The Swiss #1 stepped up in the second set to level the match and eventually took a nail-biting decider 7-5 to force the tie to a doubles match.
The four players returned after a break for the doubles, which was another close affair. The Swiss took the first set on a tie break before forging ahead with a break in the second set, eventually securing the tie with a 7-6 6-4 win. The win marks the first time since 1978 that Switzerland has won the girls 16 & Under title; indeed it was the first time that the team had featured in the championship match since then.
The girls’ 14 & Under finals were also played in the Czech Republic, where the host team made full use of their home advantage to defend their title in Roznov pod Radhostem. They had to work hard throughout the event though, recovering from the loss of the opening singles match to win a deciding doubles rubber in all three of their final round ties.
Having outlasted Italy and Great Britain, the Czechs faced the top seeded Russian team in the championship decider. Anna Slovakova started the opening rubber well, establishing a 6-2 lead over Evgeniya Levashova before the Russian got into her stride, conceding just three further games in the match.
Marketa Vondrousova then levelled the tie in style, losing just two games as she raced past Amina Anshba in just over an hour of play. The Russians drafted in fresh legs for the doubles tie as Anna Ureke joined Levashova, but Vondrousova & Slovakova dominated from the outset, winning 6-3 6-1 in seventy minutes to claim the title for the Czech Republic for a third time in four years.
The last title to be decided was that of the 14 & Under boys in Correggio, Italy, where the Russian team came from behind to win, matching the achievement of their 16 & Under colleagues.
Matteo Martineau had given their French opponents an early lead after winning a hotly contested first rubber in a final set tie break. Having won the title in 2010 and 2011, the French looked set to reclaim the crown when recent Bolton champion Corentin Moutet forced Artem Dubrivnyy to a third set, but the Russian proved to be the stronger player, scrapping to a 6-1 4-6 6-4 win to level the tie.
The four players returned to the court for the deciding doubles match, which saw the Russians assert their authority towards the end of the first set and never look back, scoring a 7-5 6-2 win that secured a first 14 & Under boys’ title since 1999.
An additional 55 teams took part in the 12 & Under event, which concluded last weekend with Russia and Great Britain being crowned as champions of the girls’ and boys’ events respectively. Both nations excelled throughout all age categories of the competition, and were the only two teams to qualify for the final rounds in all six events.
Full draws and results from the final rounds can be found here, and the qualifying rounds here. Photos from most of the venues can be found here.