Rashed Nawaf and Brenda Fruhvirtova have taken the titles at the Category 1 Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris. The prestigious event, held in Stockholm and steeped in history, is now celebrating its 119th edition. After strong performances, the pair held aloft their coveted trophies, which were donated by the Swedish royal family. Nawaf and Fruhvirtova, both alumni at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, will be pleased with their results for different reasons. Nawaf was able to atone for his narrow defeat in his previous Category 1 final at Les Petits As. Fruhvirtova, on the other hand, keeps the trophy in the family, as big sister Linda was last year’s champion. Elsewhere over the past week, Category 2 events also took place in France and Israel.
Category 1
14&U KUNGENS KANNA & DROTTNINGENS PRIS, Stockholm (SWE) | Gallery
Yaroslav Demin, the third seed, was on a great run, advancing to the quarter finals without the loss of a set. He then ran into his friend, Romanian top seed Mihai Alexandru Coman, who had also been in great form coming in to the match. The pair battled it out in an intense match, and were only eventually separated by an 8-6 score in the third set tiebreaker. Nawaf came in to the finals having won all his matches in straight sets. The eighth seed’s most impressive win was arguably over #2 seed Maxim Zhukov (RUS), the reigning Christmas Cup and Kremlin Cup champion, in the quarterfinals. After letting a lead slip in the final in Tarbes recently, Nawaf was a man on a mission in the final. With his eye on the prize, he completely shut out the third seeded Demin in the title decider and was able to hold aloft his biggest prize after a stunning 6-1 6-0 win.
Girls’ top seed Anastasiia Gureva (RUS) sailed through the draw, despite a test in Round 3, and was even stronger thereafter. Nowhere was this more evident than in her semi-final victory over third seeded Swiss Celine Naef, in which the Russian dropped just two games. Fruhvirtova was equally strong, advancing to the final with strong wins. Her semi-final victory over training mate Clervie Ngounoue (USA), put her into her biggest final so far. In the end, Fruhvirtova was able to emulate her older sister’s achievement from just one year ago by lifting this trophy. The final pitted the unseeded player against the top-seeded Russian, and the intense battle eventually went the way of the Czech, who battled back from a set down to win 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3.
There was some consolation for Gureva in the doubles final. Together with Hanna Tsitavets (BLR), the pair defeated the Swiss pairing of Naef & Karolina Kozakova to win the title 6-4 7-6(1). Seventh seeds Oliver Byskata (FIN) & Oliver Ojakaar (EST) edged past eighth seeds Leo Cohen Bacrie & Gabriel Debru (FRA), in a tough boys’ doubles final 7-6(5) 3-6 10-8.
The event in Stockholm was also the scene of the second Tennis Europe Junior School class of the season. On the eve of the tournament, players had the chance to attend the special session, where they learned more about issues such as anti-doping, agents and sponsorship and tennis integrity, amongst others. Find out more about the School here or take a look at what happened in Stockholm here.
Category 2
16&U LE CHAMBON SUR LIGNON 15-16, Le Chambon Sur Lignon (FRA)
Clara Cwajgenbaum made waves as a wild card entry participating in her first ever Tennis Europe Junior Tour event. Playing under the flag of New Caledonia, a French overseas territory, she fought her way to the final where she faced Sebastianna Scilipoti (SUI), the second seed. In the end, it was the seeded player who came out on top with a 6-1 6-0 victory, but Cwajgenbaum’s debut was one to remember.
Another unseeded player, Dylan Dietrich (SUI) made a run to the boys’ final. It was a close result, but he went down to seventh seeded Dutch player Luca Van Den Berg in the 7-6(3) 7-5.
In the doubles, Carla Galmiche & Emma Jouy (FRA), the second seeds, were too strong for their compatriots Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah & Clemence Thouard, taking the girls’ title. Meanwhile, the Swiss combination of Dietrich & Ioannis Von Meyenberg defeated top seeds Svetlin Keremedchiev (BUL) & Mikhail Veselov (RUS).
14&U TEL AVIV OPEN IN HONOUR OF RONNIE SENDER, Tel Aviv (ISR)
Two locals fought it out for the top prize in the boy’s singles, with the spoils eventually going to fourth seed Vladimir Bazilevskiy over Ofek Shimanov 6-4 6-3. Nikola Daubnerova (SVK) was too strong for Luca Udvardy (HUN) in the girls’ final, taking it 6-3 6-2.
The doubles saw another all-Israeli boys’ final, as second seeds Vladimir Bazilevskiy & Ido Samimyan got the better of Amit Vales & Zohar Yaniv. The doubles final foretold the result of the singles, as eventual singles champion Daubnerova (SVK) & Anastasia Ivanova (RUS) defeated singles runner-up Udvardy and her partner Margherita Marcon (ITA) in the girls’ final.
For full results from all of last week's events, click here.