Slovakia’s Peter Benjamin Privara and Ukraine’s Kateryna Lazarenko both jump to the top of the Race to Masters rankings after winning in Warsaw last weekend. Privara posted back-to-back Category One wins with another title run after his win in Sarajevo, where Lazarenko finished runner-up. Lazarenko moves up one position in the Race, sliding into the top slot. Privara’s win now propels him to #1 in the Race to Masters, a four-spot leap, on top of his 23-spot jump the previous week. Lazarenko is looking increasingly sharp, and if Privara’s current run of form is anything to go by, he may be hard to dethrone.
16&U | BOHDAN TOMASZEWSKI CUP | Warsaw, POL
Top seed Privara sailed to the final, except for a blip in round two where he was taken to three sets by Ukrainian qualifier Amadei Hutsul. Reset and refocused, the Slovak was dominant in his next two matches before facing compatriot Peter Nad in the final. Having come through a tough three-set upset of top seed Vladimir Popov (BUL) in the quarter final, Nad also sprinted into the final where, unfortunately, he was forced to retire, down 4-1 in the first set. His run to the final, however, boosted his hopes of playing at the season-ending Masters in Reggio Calabria, as he rises a whopping 16 spots to number eight in the Race and is a serious contender to make the cut.
It was a great week all around for Lazarenko and Ksenia Zaytseva (RUS). As a team, they won the doubles event and as the top two seeds, they faced each other in the final. The Ukrainian got the better of her friend in the end, posting a come-from-behind 1-6 6-2 6-4 win for her third winner’s trophy this year. Lazarenko’s semi-final victim, Daria Gorska (POL), jumps 24 spots to number 22 in the Race and, although may appear to be out of contention, is in reality only 170 points away from the top eight - still within striking distance.
Boys’ doubles winners: Peter Nad (SVK) & German Samofalov (UKR)
Girls’ doubles winners: Kateryna Lazarenko (UKR) & Ksenia Zaytseva (RUS)
14&U | DAVID FERRER EUROPE JUNIOR TOUR U14 | Alicante, ESP
Locals Ariana Geerlings and Mateo Luis Alvarez Sarmiento have won in Alicante at the inaugural David Ferrer Academy event (pictured). The number two seed was playing in her first final of the year and won it in straight sets over compatriot Carmen Lopez 7-5 6-4, having not dropped a set all week. Alvarez, unseeded, also kept a clean sheet on his road to the final. Top seed Grigory Shebekin (RUS) took the first set, but it was one-way traffic for the rest of the match for Alvarez. He claimed the title 6-7(4) 6-3 6-1 in yet another win for Spain in front of a content home crowd as well as recently retired legend David Ferrer, who was also on hand at the presentation ceremony.
With none of the top 20 girls playing in Alicante, there were no changes at the top end of their Race this week. The list remains unchanged from last week, with Alisa Baranovska (UKR) still atop and with just 125 points separating her from the number 10 player, Elena Pridankina (RUS). With less than a month to go, the top 20 players are separated by very few points and with a slew of Category two and three tournaments to come before the Junior Masters qualifiers are confirmed, there is still much to play for.
Boys’ doubles winners: David Alexandru Gheorghe (ROU) & Cristian Marton (ROU)
Girls’ doubles winners: Maria Castano (ESP) & Alice Ferlito (ESP)
For the latest Junior Masters rankings, click here. For full results from here as well as other events from Week 32, click here. For the latest photo galleries, click here.