Tennis Europe Junior Tour

France & Russia defend 16&U Summer Cups titles

France & Russia defend 16&U Summer Cups titles

France and Russia have won the boys’ and girls’ 16&U European Summer Cups titles. It is the twelfth ‘Borotra Cup’ title for the French, while Russian girls lifted the trophy for a ninth time.

After 64 teams took part in eight qualifying events across the continent last week, this week saw the culmination of the event, with the top eight qualifying boys’ and girls’ teams playing for the Cups in Le Touquet and Budapest respectively.

The top six teams (highlighted in bold, below) from the final rounds also qualify to take part in the Junior Davis and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas finals in Lake Nona, USA, at the end of September.

Boys’ Finals - Le Touquet (FRA)

France were the in-form team, and perhaps favourites coming into the match on home soil as defending Champions. France have won on eleven previous occasions, while this was Serbia’s first ever final in this age category. Last year’s runners-up Italy were upset in the qualifying stages on home soil in Latiano by Ukraine.

In the final rounds, France came through to the final with a strong 3-0 opening win over Ukraine. They followed this with a 2-1 come-from-behind win against Great Britain in the semi-finals, with a dramatic 10-8 win in the championship tiebreak in the deciding doubles. Serbia beat 2017 champions Czech Republic in the quarters, and were even stronger in the semi-finals, downing Spain 3-0.

Final

France 2 - Serbia 1

Recent European Junior Championships Gold Medalist Mehdi Sadaoui got the host nation off to a good start after a battle royale against #9 ranked Stefan Popovic 7-5 6-7(4) 6-4. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard put the result beyond doubt for the French, outdoing Hamad Medjedovic 6-4 6-4. Although the French were gunning for the whitewash at home, it was not to be as Medjedovic & Petar Teodorovic restored some pride for the Serbs, defeating Mpetshi Perricard & Max Westphal 2-6 7-6(5) 10-6.

Final standings

1. France, 2. Serbia, 3. Spain, 4. Great Britain, 5. Czech Republic, 6. Ukraine, 7. Bulgaria, 8. Greece

Draw | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3Photos 
 

Girls’ Finals - Budapest (HUN)

Russia were three-time defending champions, having amassed eight titles, plus a further three as part of the USSR. The Czech Republic had their own impressive record, boasting 4 titles and an additional four as Czechoslovakia. 

Russia looked impressive from the outset, opening with a 3-0 win over their neighbours Belarus in the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals they prevented the French team from joining their male counterparts in the final with a straightforward win in the deciding doubles rubber. The Czech Republic scored 2-1 wins over Serbia and Germany to progress to their fifth final.

Final

Russia 3 - Czech Republic 0

Russia, playing in their fifth consecutive final, made it four straight wins, shutting out their Czech opponents in the decider. Oksana Selekhmeteva came from behind to beat last year’s 14&U European Junior Champion Linda Noskova 3-6 7-6(2) 6-3. This year’s 16&U European Junior Champion, Polina Kudermetova was too strong for Darja Vidmanova, winning 6-4 7-5. Kudermetova then teamed up with Diana Schnaider to complete the triple win over the two Czechs, winning the doubles 6-3 6-4.

Final standings

1. Russia, 2. Czech Republic, 3. Germany, 4. France, 5. Italy, 6. Serbia, 7. Croatia, 8. Belarus

Draw | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3Photos

 

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