The Czech Republic and Romania have been crowned as the new champions of the 12 & Under Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD.
At the girls’ finals in Sheffield (GBR), the Czech team ended Russia’s two-year reign as champions with a hard-fought victory. Kristyna Lavickova put her team ahead by inflicting a first loss of the competition on Russian #2 Darya Frayman, winning 6-4 7-6(8).
Denisa Hindova then faced Maria Novikova with the chance to put the tie out of reach of the defending champions. The players split the opening sets before Hindova accelerated away in the decider, winning 6-3 4-6 6-3 to seal the trophy after over two hours of play.
Three of the four players then returned to the court for the dead doubles match, with Hindova joined by Denisa Hunkova. The Russian team scored a consolation point with a straightforward 6-1 6-3 win.
The Czech Republic has had great success in the Winter Cups competition in recent years. While this is their first 12 & under title, Czech teams have won three of the last four titles in both the 14 and 16 & Under girls’ age groups.
The bronze medal was claimed by host nation Great Britain, thanks to a 2-1 win over Italy.
While the Czech girls' team was celebrating in Sheffield, the boys’ finals were being played in the town of Vendryné back in the Czech Republic.
The final saw Romania take on Switzerland for a second time in the competition, with the two teams already having faced off in the final match of their qualifying group. After wins over qualifying group winners France and Serbia in the previous rounds the Swiss were confident of reversing the previous result, which saw Romania come from behind for a 2-1 win.
On this occasion the Romanian team was in no mood for compromise. Radu Mihai Papoe raced to a 6-4 6-2 win over Jean Marc Malkowski before Sebastian Gima scored a decisive 7-5 6-2 win over Riedi Leandro. Papoe was then joined by Nicholas Ionel for the doubles match, where the Romanian team wrapped a comprehensive 3-0 win, conceding just three games to Leandro and partner Dominic Stricker.
The win is Romania’s first ever Winter Cups title, while Switzerland has finished as runner-up in two of the three editions of the 12 & Under Winter Cups to have been held so far. Later on Sunday, France beat Russia 3-0 to claim the bronze medal.
The Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD is the sport’s largest junior indoor team competition. A total of 173 national teams have taken part in the event this year, 54 of them in the 12 & Under category. The finals of the 14 and 16 & Under age groups will be played next weekend.
12 & Under Girls
Final Rounds - Sheffield (GBR) - Nominations | Draw | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Photos
1. Czech Republic, 2. Russia, 3. Great Britain, 4. Italy, 5. Turkey, 6. Belgium, 7. Switzerland
12 & Under Boys
Final Rounds - Vendryne (CZE) - Nominations | Draw | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Photos
1. Romania, 2. Switzerland, 3. France, 4. Russia, 5. Croatia, 6. Slovakia, 7. Serbia, 8. Belarus