At its 33rd edition, Open Stade Francais once again welcomed players from all over the world. With the tennis courts right in the middle of a national park, the tournament’s venue turned into an oasis, a playground, and a place to make history at the same time. | 📸 Photo Gallery
The event kicked off with a Tennis Europe Junior School, where topics such as Nutrition & Hydration, Social Media and Diversity & Inclusion were covered. Both players and their coaches participated and had the chance to learn information useful for their careers as professionals.
In the girls’ draw, the top 3 seeds lost quite early in the tournament. Romanian Andreea Olariu [1] was upset in the third round by Lithuanian Viktorija Cesonyte, who began the tournament in a great shape, eliminating Luisa Fosil (SLO) [14] in the first round. Nonetheless, she was defeated in the quarterfinal by Japanese Sakino Miyazawa. Barbara Kostecka (POL) [2] lost in the quarterfinal to Korean finalist Yesung Choo [9], while third seed Keisija Berzina (LAT) only won 3 games in her match against Eva Korysheva (KAZ).
Last year’s winner Victoria Luiza Barros (BRA) defended her title like a true champion. She dominated the beginning of the match, yet had a few moments of vulnerability which allowed her opponent to come back from 2-5 and equal her score. Even so, the Brazilian was determined to have two Open Stade Francais gold medals, and she achieved her goal in the end, defeating Choo 7-5 6-2.
The situation was slightly different in the boys’ draw. Second seed Luca Ceramilac (SRB) was upset by Jordan Lee (USA) in the quarterfinal. Lee's compatriot and doubles partner, Michael Antonius, played the final against home favourite Daniel Jade [3] and won the first set after an intense tiebreak, which finished 8-6. The second set had a completely different scenario, as Jade breezed through it and won 6-0. He was called champion 2 hours and 20 minutes later, with the score of 6-7 6-0 6-3.
The event's finals were played at Roland Garros, which allowed the young players to feel like professionals and also boosted their motivation to work hard for their dreams.
Elsewhere on the Junior Tour:
- Nikita Bilozertsev (UKR) and Anastasija Cvetkovic (SRB) won the 16&U Dema Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Jakob Mittermayr (AUT) won his first ever Tennis Europe title at the 12 & Under Category event in FüRstenfeld, Austria. At the same tournament, Elizaveta Anikina (EST) claimed her second title in a row, after the 14&U Tallin Open
- The 14&U event in Fürstenfeld had two fully Canadian singles finals – the titles were claimed by Andy Tchinda Kepche & Anastasia Malysheva
- In Forli, Italy, Koreans Junseo Jang and Yerin Lee won their first Tennis Europe titles;
- Mikolaj Solarz (POL) won both singles & doubles at the 12&U Lechia Tennis Cup in Gdansk, Poland. The girls doubles partners and winners Oliwia Kadzielska and Wiktoria Szychowska played the singles finals against each other, with Szychowska victorious
- In Buzau, Romania, the players competing at the 12&U Buzau Tennis Open enjoyed a fun players party on Tuesday, with great food, music and delicious waffles
- Krka Open was won by Nina Kosicka (SVK) and Edoardo Gallo (ITA)
- Also: Junior Tour players Luna Vujovic (SRB) and Mark Ceban (GBR) won this year’s Wimbledon 14&U event. The recent Cat.1 event in Roehampton was one of the worldwide qualifying events for this unique opportunity for young players to experience grass courts and a Grand Slam atmosphere.
For full results from last week on the Tour click here, and don’t forget that you can follow all the latest draws, results, news and live streaming/scoring on the Junior Tour app, available free-of-charge for Apple and Android users.