The Tennis Europe Junior Tour sprang back into life last week, with a total of four tournaments played across the continent.
The week’s most prestigious tournament was the Nike Junior International Teen Tennis in Bolton (GBR). The second Category 1 14 & Under event of the season, Teen Tennis once again attracted a strong field of players from all over the world, many of whom have travelled to play back-to-back Category 1 events here and in Tarbes.
Transatlantic players left their mark on the tournament, accounting for three of the four titles on offer. Of those Canada’s Maria Tanasescu was arguably the most impressive. Unseeded, she blasted her way through the girls’ singles draw, beating three seeds on her way to the final where she faced top seed Anda Karanusic (CRO). Their showdown will long be remembered at the tournament as a war of attrition, with the Canadian eventually emerging victorious after a punishing 7-6(3) 6-7(6) 7-6(4) battle to claim her first title on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.
A day earlier, Tanasescu had teamed up with compatriot Bianca Vanessa Andreescu to claim the doubles title over home hopes Ali Collins & Alexandra Hunter. The Canadian pair picked up where they left off last summer, having formed a successful partnership that reaped four consecutive doubles titles on European soil.
In the boys’ event, second seed Nicola Kuhn (GER) eased to a 6-3 6-1 win over eighth seeded American Andrew Fenty. Fenty had caused a pair of upsets on his way to the final (notably top seed Yshai Oliel of Israel in the quarterfinals) but had no answer to the German, who will shoot several spots from his current ranking of 11 next Tuesday.
Kuhn fell just short of a title sweep, having earlier been beaten in the doubles final alongside partner Carlos Sanchez Jover (ESP). The pair had survived champion’s tie breaks in all three of their early matches but was beaten in straight sets by America’s Roscoe Bellamy & Keenan Mayo in the final.
The Category 2 Narva Cup in Estonia proved to be a successful event for Dutch boys, three of whom reached the singles semi-finals. Unusually, both finalists were qualifiers; Amadatus Admiraal began the main draw with a win over top seed Ilya Chubko, while his compatriot and doubles partner Sidane Pontjodikromo took out second seed Aaron Schmid (SUI) in the bottom half of the draw. Chubko & Schmid shouldn’t be too disheartened though, as they teamed up to win the doubles together over home players Daniil Glinka & Robin Erik Parts.
The singles final turned out to be the toughest match of the week for both players, but Pontjodikromo ran out of steam after levelling the match at one set all to give Admiraal his first Tennis Europe Junior tour title, 6-4 2-6 6-0.
The girls singles title went to Russia’s Polina Krupchenko, who beat compatriot Anfisa Korolkova 7-5 6-3. There was further Russian success in the doubles, where Sofia Shevchenko teamed up with Ekaterina Grib (BLR) to beat locals Maria Lota Kaul & Hella Linda Sepman.
At the 13th Realsport Open in Milovice (CZE), top seed Tomas Jirousek continued his good start to the year. After winning the doubles title at last week’s 16 & under Milten Cup, he teamed up this time with younger brother Lucas to lift the trophy for a second straight week.
Jirousek then went on to claim the singles title with a 6-4 6-3 win over compatriot Tomas Machac. The win is his third 14 & Under title, but first at Category 2 level, and sees him likely to re-enter the Top 5 next week.
Russian wild card Varvara Gracheva claimed the girls’ title, scoring wins over top seed Karolina Berankova (CZE) in the quarter finals and second seed Carlota Molina Megias (ESP) in the final, where she lost just four games. Unseeded Czechs Tereza Najmanova & Anna Siskova took the doubles crown over Polish seeds Maja Chwalinska & Karolina Jaskiewicz.
The week’s only 12 & Under tournament was the 01Properties Khimki Junior Open in Russia, which came hot on the heels of last week’s Category 1 event at the same venue. Home players swept the board here, with Maria Novikova winning both girls’ singles and doubles (alongside Elina Avanesyan). Petr Kapuskin claimed the boys’ singles, while Alexey Abazov teamed up with the only non-Russian player to claim a title, Ukraine’s Oleksiy Shestakov, to claim the doubles crown.
This week the Tennis Europe Junior Tour is highlighted by Les Petits As in Tarbes, often regarded as the world’s toughest 14 & Under indoor event. Follow us on Twitter throughout the week for the latest news.