Mikayel Avanesyan of Armenia (pictured) and Montenegro’s Iva Lakic were the standout players at this year‘s Development Championships held at the Megasaray Tennis Academy in Antalya, Turkey. They dominated the podium, both players taking the two singles titles on offer, respectively defeating Skender Katana (MNE) and Nehir Dogan (TUR) on each occasion.
The Development Championships are a special event which sees players from 10 Tier 1 Development Eligibility countries invited to train together and compete in back-to-back Category 2 Junior Tour tournaments.
Avanesyan, had a tough three-set win to claim the week 1 title, in a come-from-behind win over Katana. He clearly took away a lot from that match though, coming back six days later to defeat the Montenegrin again, this time in straight sets. With a bronze medal win in the doubles after the first competition, Avanesyan and fellow Armenian Davit Poghosyan won the doubles gold in week two.
Such was Lakic’s dominance that she charged her way through both events without conceding a set, meeting third seeded local Dogan in successive finals. The Turk was able to garner a couple more games in the week two final, but Lakic was unstoppable. Furthermore, she added to her haul in the doubles in week one, winning a silver medal with Tara Rasovic. The pair then went on to repeat that feat in the second event, again falling to Turks Dogan & Esila Toklu, claiming a second silver medal in doubles.
Team Montenegro, headed by coaches Itana Pejovic (girls) and Maksim Mickovic (boys), ended up with more medals with Skender Katana picking up two silver medals as mentioned, as well as a doubles bronze medal in week one. “As a captain of the Montenegro national tennis team, I'm so proud because of our achievements,” stated coach Mickovic. He added, “It is our great pleasure to be part of this organisation and tournament. I have to say that our motivation is now bigger than ever because of the great results and benefits that the kids had - and will have. Also, a big thanks to everybody that was part of the big tennis family we created together in these competitions.”
To this last point, it must be noted that the event was played in the best of spirits. There was plenty of fair play and camaraderie on display as many an off-court friendship was struck between the teams and players. Furthermore, in a story that started in 2014 at the Kvarner Junior Open and has come full-circle, the Kosovo coach Meldin Mustafi nostalgically recalled that he was the “first player from Kosovo to play and win a match on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour - for us and for my country that was the first win. Now, as a coach, it’s a nice feeling to see the kids now playing the same tournaments.”
In conjunction with the 14&U tournament, there was also a training camp held for 12&U players from these emerging tennis nations participating in Antalya. On site was ITF Development Officer for Europe, Vitor Cabral, who also noted that “this is the flagship event for Tennis Europe when it comes to development. I think it is extremely important to have the two events here together. Many of the players in the 12&U training camp will come back to play in the 14&U Development Championships. Hopefully they will then integrate into the Tennis Europe touring teams. This pathway that we have is quite important for many players from these nations.”
In addition to the tennis events, a session of the Tennis Europe Junior School was held during the tournament.
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