Vojtech Petr of Czech Republic has won his fourth title of the year, claiming the European 14 & Under boys title with a 2-6 6-3 6-2 win over Dino Prizmic of Croatia. Meanwhile, Michaela Laki has become the first ever Greek winner of the European 14 & Under title, after a 6-3 6-2 win over 2018 Orange Bowl champion Melisa Ercan of Turkey.
En route to winning gold, Laki saw off (7) Karolina Kozakova (SUI), Brenda Fruhvirtova (CZE) and #5 seed Nikola Bartunkova (CZE), who had previously seen off top seed Alisa Baranovaska in the previous round. Petr also had impressive wins over Branko Djuric (SRB) and twelfth seeded compatriot Jakub Mensik on his way to the final.
As is the case with the 16&U finalists, both winners and runners-up receive invitations to compete at the season-ending Tennis Europe Junior Masters in Reggio Calabria in October.
BOYS
The biggest shock of the week was arguably the 6-3 7-5 loss of #2 seed Yaroslav Demin in his first match on Day 2 to Patrick Jozwicki (AUT). The Tennis Europe 14&U #2 ranked player had already made 4 finals appearances this year, taking home two titles. The much-anticipated clash between the top two seeds, Demin and #1 Mihai Alexandru Coman (ROU) will have to wait. The Romanian, for his part, looked only to be growing in might and confidence as the week progressed. As fate would have it, he too was upset by the demure Prizmic in the semis.
Down to the last eight, only three of the top eight seeds were still alive and three unseeded players were among the mix. The marquee quarterfinal matchup was that which included the only two seeds facing off, however there were no further upsets as Coman defeated (6) Alexander Blockx (BEL) 6-2 6-1.
Oliver Ojakaar (EST), Abel Forger (NED), who dispatched Gabriel Debru (FRA) in round 3, and the aforementioned Jozwicki were three non-seeds who managed to make an impact deep into the tournament.
GIRLS
It was a similar story for the girls, as the seeds fell by the wayside on day 3 with (4) Anastasiia Gureva (RUS) falling to Brenda Fruhvirtova (CZE), who extended her 2019 win/loss record to 23/5 . Also bidding farewell at the same stage were (2) Kristyna Tomajkova (CZE), (12) Jana Stojanova (MKD) and (15) Hanna Tsitavets (BLR). Number 16 seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (AND), the Mutua Madrid Open junior girls’ champion, would have liked to progress further than Round 4, but there are still plenty of good things to come from the promising young player from Andorra.
DOUBLES
Mihai Alexandru Coman did end up claiming a gold medal at the event, albeit somewhat unexpectedly. His first doubles title in two years came with Andrei Firaru. They were too strong for their Slovenian opponents, taking the title in straight sets over Matic Kriznik & Ziga Svec 7-6(1) 6-2 in the final.
The hard-hitting Russian powerhouse team of Anastasiia Gureva & Elena Pridankina fended off a battle royale against Eva Shaw & Ranah Akua Stoiber (GBR). The Russians had to fight tooth and nail for the first set, before being taken to a championship tiebreak, eventually getting the better of the Brits with a 7-5 2-6 10-4 win.
Medals
BOYS’ SINGLES:
GOLD: Vojtech Petr (CZE)
SILVER: Dino Prizmic (CRO)
BRONZE: Jakub Mensik (CZE) and Mihai Alexandru Coman (ROU)
GIRLS’ SINGLES:
GOLD: Michala Laki (GRE)
SILVER: Melis Ercan (TUR)
BRONZE: Nikola Daubnerova (SVK) and Nikola Bartunkova (CZE)
Draws and Results
Boys Singles | Boys Doubles | Girls Singles | Girls Doubles | Photos