Justin Engel (GER) and Laura Samsonova (CZE) have won this year’s coveted Open Stade Français. With the finals played on the hallowed grounds of Roland Garros, this is one of the tour’s most sought after Category 1 titles. Elsewhere, Nikola Jovic (SRB) has had a major breakthrough, winning his first singles title on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, taking the title in Nis, Serbia.
Category 1
14&U | Open Stade Français, Paris (FRA)
This event traditionally attracts all the big names on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, as well as a host of top players from other continents. In a great weekend for German tennis, Julia Stusek was the girls’ runner-up, while Mees Rottgering (NED) took home the boys’ finalist trophy.
Early in the tournament, several top seeds suffered shock upsets, with two big names knocked out of the boys and girls singles in their first match. Top girls’ seed Laima Vladson (LTU) was upset by Tyra Caterina Grant (USA). Boys’ second seed Egor Pleshivtsev (RUS) also made a shock early exit, falling to another unseeded player in the form of German Max Schoenhaus. Both underdogs kept their run of form going all the way to the semi-finals in their respective draws.
Moving into the latter stages of the tournament there were some more surprises, as well as unfortunate news for Russian hope Ksenia Efremova who was forced to retire injured early in the second set from her quarterfinal match against Grant. Another upset was brewing in the quarterfinals, this time in the boys draw where top seeded Serbian Ognjen Milic (SRB) was locked in a battle royale against the eventual champion. In the end, it was Engel who edged out a 5-7 7-5 7-5 win to book his spot in the final. Rottgering was looking to make it three wins from three finals this season, while adding another Category One trophy to his shelf. He managed to level up the final against Engel by taking the second set, but the German held firm in the deciding set to post a 6-4 2-6 6-3 victory. The win will send him firmly back into the Top 10 of the Race to Monte Carlo rankings on Tuesday.
Stusek, second in the girls’ Race, posted various outstanding victories in this event including a straight set win over the #15 seed Eline Bex (BEL). In the semis she posted a three-set take-down of local favorite and second seed Mathilde Ngijol Carre, already a Category One champ in 2021. Samsonova also came into the final in great form having taken out fourth seed Polina Kuharenko (BLR) as well as giantkiller Grant in the semis.
The final saw the previous day’s doubles winners face off for singles glory, and it was the Czech who came out on top with a dominating 6-2 6-3 performance.
Boys’ doubles champions: Egor Gorin (RUS) & Egor Pleshivtsev (RUS)
Girls’ doubles champions: Laura Samsonova (CZE) & Julia Stusek (GER)
Category 2
16&U | Nis Open, Nis (SRB)
Having come tantalisingly close to a first Junior Tour title a month ago in Skopje, Nikola Jovic made a big step forward on home soil, beating compatriot Sergej Zivkovic 6-2 6-3 in the boys' final.
In the girls’ draw, Anja Stankovic enjoyed success on both the singles and doubles courts. In the singles final, the top seed claimed her second title of the year with a 6-4 6-2 win over Russian Vera Sokolova.
Boys’ doubles champions: Amar Huseinovikl (MKD) & Filip Stojanovski (MKD)
Girls’ doubles champions: Anastasija Cvetkovic (SRB) & Anja Stankovic (SRB)
A total of 13 Category 3 and 12 & Under Tennis Europe Junior Tour events were also held last week. For full results, click here.