Klosters (18 & Under)
The weather gods finally were in positive mood on Day 3 in Klosters. No less than 70 matches were played on the outdoor clay courts of the European 18 & Under Championships to bring the organizers back on schedule.
The best-ranked players adapted well to the much slower conditions compared to those on the indoor courts and mostly prevailed. The highest casualty in the singles draws were #7 seed Jan Zielinski from Poland, who fell in straight sets to Swede Daniel Windahl and Anna Bondar, the girls’ #9 from Hungary who bowed out in three sets to Norwegian Melanie Stokke.
The team of the host nation in singles was reduced to the two biggest hopes. # 3 seed Jil Teichmann made short work of her Turkish opponent Melis Bayraktaroglu showing her vast array of shots and winning 6-1 6-1. Johan Nikles once again proved to be in great shape and beat Italian Andrea Pellegrino despite an early deficit 6-4 6-2.
Teichmann also caused an upset together with her best friend Sarah Ottomano. The duo quickly disposed of the Slovakians Kristina Schmiedlova & Rebecca Sramkova 6-2 6-2.
32 matches are scheduled for Thursday, all of them fourth round clashes. Patience is likely to be an asset as some showers are anticipated which could disrupt play. | Facebook
Moscow (16 & Under)
Following an upset strewn opening couple of days, order was restored at the 16 & Under Championships in Moscow, with almost all matches going with form. A pair of seeds had easier than expected paths to the fourth round; top seed and reigning Junior Masters champion Mate Valkusz (HUN) played just one game before Lukas Klein (SLO) was forced to retire, while Switzerland’s Marko Osmakcic was made to work just a little bit harder, his opponent Kaloyan Valchev retiring while trailing 1-6 0-5.
2012 14 & Under Championships winner Mikael Ymer beat that year’s Junior Masters champion Eduard Guell (ESP) to set up a match with the player he beat in the 2012 final, Casper Ruud (DEN). Also advancing was Ymer’s successor as 14 & Under champion, Corentin Moutet of France and current Race to Masters leader Rrezart Cungu (MNE).
Pilsen (14 & Under)
There were no major surprises at the 14 & Under Championships in Pilsen (CZE), with just two of the lower girls’ seeds losing out. Karolina Tilander of Sweden ousted 14th seeded Czech Anna Kynclova 6-4 7-6(2), while Spain’s Paula Arias Majon upset 15th seed Oona Orpana of Finland, who had won two of her last three tournaments on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, for the loss of just three games.