Tennis Europe Junior Tour

Bondar and Ymer crowned 18&U champions of Europe

Bondar and Ymer crowned 18&U champions of Europe

Swede Mikael Ymer and Hungarian Anna Bondar are the new European 18 & Under Champions after both players crowned a great personal week by winning the title.

When Bernabe Zapata Miralles' last forehand landed in the net, Mikael Ymer seemed incredulous to have clinched the title. Yet, the 16-year-old Swede had been in the driving seat for most of the match, not giving the Spaniard, who had lost an enormous amount of energy during the week, any time to breathe.  Ymer is the first Swede to win the gold medal in the category of the oldest boys since Robin Soderling back in 2001. For the highly gifted runner-up at Wimbledon, it was the second title in three years, after having won the Under 14 trophy in 2012 in Plzen. In between, he had added a silver medal to his tally last year at the Under 16 event in Moscow.

The Swiss supporters had longtime reason to believe in a win of their favourite in the girls singles. Jil Teichmann came out of the blocks well versus Hungarian Anna Bondar and took the first set quickly 6-2. Then, the Swiss lefthander couldn't keep up the pace while her unseeded opponent became more and more aggressive and steady. Bondar, who already had eliminated Wimbledon finalist Anna Blinkova and Miriam Kolodziejova, in the end was dominant and took the remaining two sets 6-3 6-1. “She was the better player and deserved the win”, a sporting Teichmann admitted. For Hungary, it was the third title on the big stage after Petra Mandula (1996) and Agnes Szavay (2005).

Over the course of the week, 152 European talents played more than 470 hours of competitive tennis and the summary is very positive: Contrary to the continuous rain of last year, Klosters showed its ‘normal’ face with blue skies, which was an enormous help in the logistical department but also in terms of atmosphere. The level on the courts was high, especially in the boys’ competition, where many youngsters proved that they are (soon) ready to undertake the long and rocky road onto the professional circuits. “We can definitely be very satisfied”, tournament director Hans Markutt said. At the sponsor reception, he and president Liane Alban as well as the entire crew were highly praised by Tennis Europe as well as by Swiss Tennis for their professional work.

And the future looks very promising. First, for the 20-year-jubilee, which will be celebrated in 2016 with a series of special events. But also in the long run. This week, several positive talks between the organizers, Tennis Europe, the community and Klosters tourism took place. As the community continuously supports the event and because the infrastructure will be improved soon, including the construction of three new indoor courts, it is highly probable that the tournament will still be held in Klosters after 2016.

From Marco Keller in Klosters

Draws, Results & Photos

Boys Singles | Boys DoublesGirls Singles | Girls DoublesOrder of Play | Facebook | Photos | Photos 2

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