Tennis Europe Junior Tour

Italy & Czech Republic win Summer Cups titles

Italy & Czech Republic win Summer Cups titles

Italy and Czech Republic are the 2022 14 & Under European Summer Cups champions.

At the boys' finals in Valencia, Spain, the defending champions wasted no time in securing victory, claiming both singles rubbers to take an unassailable 2-0 lead over top seeds Germany. Vito Antonio Darderi lost just six games in the opening match against Diego Dedura-Palomero to give his team an early advantage. The second match went to the wire, with Antonio Marigliano weathering a second set fightback from Niels McDonald before winning a tense final set, eventually triumphing 6-4 3-6 7-5.

The Germans scored a consolation doubles win as Dedura-Palomero teamed with Christopher Thies for a three set win over Marigliano & Salvatore Tartaglione, but the tie was already over.

The win marks Italy’s fourth Copa del Sol win, following titles in 1979, 2016 and 2021.

Over in Loano, Italy, the girls’ team from Czech Republic lived up to their top seeding by scoring a 2-0 win over neighbours Slovakia in the final. Laura Samsonova gave the Czechs the lead after a three set batte with Mia Pohankova. In the match between the teams’ #1 players, Alena Kovackova added another remarkable achievement to her incredible Junior Tour season. In beating Sona Despesova 7-5 6-4 to secure the title, she recorded her 39th singles win of 2022, with just one loss.

With a team featuring three of the Tour’s Top 6 players, the Czechs had eased their way comfortably through the tournament. Having scored 3-0 wins over Bulgaria, Cyprus and Serbia in qualifying, and also over France at the finals, the only hiccup came in the semi-finals against Germany, when the tie was decided in a tight three-set doubles.

The victory is a fourth 14 & Under Europa Cup title for Czech Republic, though it’s worth nothing that both nations won an additional 5 as part of Czechoslovakia. 

Sunday’s play-off matches also decided the final ranking (below) of the eight teams to qualify for the final rounds. The Top 5 teams will join hosts Czech Republic in qualifying for the ITF World Junior Tennis competition later this summer.

A total of 71 national teams entered the competition. Notably this a qualifying group was organised in Armenia for the first time in the history of the competition. Teams from  Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Turkey received welcome gifts from the host nation at the opening ceremony in Yerevan, from where fans could follow the action live online. Tennis Europe thanks the Armenian Tennis Federation for this groundbreaking feat and looks forward to bringing the team competitions to more developing tennis nations in future.

Full results from all qualifying rounds, plus photo galleries and more information can be found here. More Summer Cups action will follow in late July, when the 12, 16 and 18 & Under age categories will be played. Visit the tournament page for more information.

Final Standings - Boys

1. Italy*
2. Germany*
3. Bulgaria*
4. Slovenia*
5. Switzerland*
6. Romania
7. Austria
8. Great Britain

Final Standings - Girls

1. Czech Republic*
2. Slovakia*
3. Germany*
4. Latvia*
5. Serbia*
6. Great Britain*
7. Romania
8. France

* = qualifies for World Junior Tennis finals.

 

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