Over the next six weeks, 258 national teams from four age categories will battle to win the region’s biggest junior team competition, the European Summer Cups.
The events kick off with the 14 & Under age category this weekend, when 37 boys’ and 34 girls’ teams begin their qualifying campaigns at 8 venues across the continent.
Two teams will advance from each qualifying group to the final rounds, which will be played in Valencia (boys) and Loano (girls) from 1-3 July.
Defending champions Italy travel to Royan in France for the boys’ qualifying competition, while the favourites for the girls’ tournament - Czech Republic - play at home in Rakovnik with a team that features three of the Junior Tour’s Top 6 players, including the standout player of the year so far, Alena Kovackova.
Full team nominations for the 14 & Under event are online here.
Competition Dates
12 & Under - Qualifying 21-24 July, Finals: 4-7 August
14 & Under - Qualifying: 26-28 June, Finals: 1-3 July
16 & Under - Qualifying: 27-29 July, Finals: 1-3 August
18 & Under - Qualifying: 27-29 July, Finals: 1-3 August
World Championship Qualifying
The 14 & Under Summer Cups also serve as the European qualifying competition for the ITF World Junior Tennis event. The top 5 European teams will join hosts Czech Republic at the finals.
The 16 & Under events double up as the European qualifying for the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup competitions. At these events, hosts Turkey will be joined by the Top 5 other European nations.
12 & Under Summer Cups by Dunlop
Formerly known as the Nations Challenge, the 12 & Under event comes under the umbrella of the Summer Cups this year and is presented by Dunlop for the first time. The 12 & Under event has a unique format, with an extra day of round-robin competition.
History
The earliest editions of the Summer Cups date all the way back to the 1950s, and the events have seen the international team debuts of many of the greats of the game. Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Simona Halep and Barbora Krejcikova are just a few of the former champions.
Latest News
Keep up with all the latest news, results, social media chatter and photos here on tenniseurope.org throughout the competition.