First-time champions were crowned in all singles competitions on Sunday as the curtain fell on The Championships for another year.
For the stars of the Junior Tour, the 14 & Under Invitational tournament represents a precious opportunity to play on the world’s most famous courts alongside top pros, and to showcase their skills to an appreciative crowd.
Now in its fourth year, the event brings together the best players from around the globe for a four-day tournament during the second week of Wimbledon. Players can earn an invitation to this unforgettable experience with a good performance at the Tennis Europe Category 1 grass court event at Raynes Park in London, which was held last month.
In the boys’ event, Tennis Europe’s 14&U #1 Rafael Pagonis was zoned in, coming through the round robin stage undefeated, despite a close one against Venezuela’s Ignacio Mejillas which went down to 11-9 in the match tiebreak. The Greek’s win at Raynes Park certainly gave him confidence and experience on grass, and this no doubt helped him get over the line 4-6 6-2 10-5 in another nailbiter in his semifinal against Nikita Berdin. Austrian Moritz Freitag, Tennis Europe #3, had a far less arduous journey to the final winning all his round robin matches comfortably and brushing aside #2 Mario Vukovic of France in the semis 6-2 6-4.
The Wimbledon final was therefore a repeat of the recent Raynes Park final. On this occasion the fortunes were reversed as Freitag eclipsed Pagonis in a match tiebreak, taking the title with a comeback 4-6 6-1 10-4 win. With their three previous meetings at Junior Tour events having gone the way of Pagonis, this win now marks Freitag’s first singles victory over his rival.
Looking back on his experience, Freitag told us, “It means a lot to me. I qualified for this event through the Tennis Europe tournament in London. And to win on the same courts where the pro players play is just amazing. I am very happy.” Paying tribute to his opponent, he said “Big respect to Rafa, he plays amazing tennis and I hope we play more matches against each other. We practiced next to Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic so that was amazing and I could watch them during their practice.”
The girls’ 14&U event saw two Europeans progress to the semifinals. Sofiia Bielinska (UKR) took out South Korea’s Yero Hong 6-3 2-6 10-3 to set up a final against Sakino Miyazawa. The Japanese player, who has been a force on the TEJT this year with two titles under her belt, was too strong for Brit Liv Zingg, winning their semifinal clash 6-4 6-4. The decider was a hard-fought battle with neither player wanting to give an inch, but in the end, it was Miyazawa who stamped her authority in the match tiebreak. Like Freitag, she also took the title coming from behind 3-6 7-5 10-5 and now adds to her Junior Tour grass court win in Raynes Park, thus maintaining her unbeaten run on this surface in singles this season.
The older Juniors also had their time in the limelight, with honours going to Mia Pohankova (SVK) and Ivan Ivanov (BUL) in the boys’ and girls’ singles draws.
Julieta Pareja (USA), who earlier this year became the first player born in 2009 to win a match on the professional circuit, put up early resistance in the final, but later on felt the full force of the Pohankova might. The Slovak, twice a silver medalist at the European Junior Championships (14&U in 2022; 16&U in 2023) now claims her biggest win as a Junior, having earlier taken out the ITF Junior world #1 Emerson Jones of Australia as well as former Tennis Europe #1 Ksenia Efremova (FRA). Pareja beat Brit Mimi Xu in the semis in three tough sets. This was no small task as Xu, a main draw wildcard recipient, had earlier shown great form in testing Emma Raducanu in their first-round main draw encounter.
Ivan Ivanov (BUL) needed less than an hour to take out Ronit Karki (USA) in a convincing 6-2 6-3 win in the boys’ final. Ivanov had scored solid wins on route to the decider in the quarters over Ziga Sesko (SVK) and then over the 14&U Junior Masters Champ from 2021 Max Schoenhaus (GER). Another European, and fellow Bulgarian Alexander Vasilev, was Karki’s victim in the semis.
Boys’ Doubles Final: Oskari Paldanius (FIN) & Alan Wazny (POL) d. Oliver Bonding (GBR) & Jagger Leach (USA) 5-7 7-6(6) 10-5
Girls’ Doubles Final: Kristina Penickova (USA) & Vendula Valdmannova (CZE) d. Thea Frodin (USA) & Julieta Pareja (USA) 6-4 6-2
Sinner & Swiatek pursue perfection
Despite having to rebound from a one-set deficit against Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s final, Jannik Sinner turned the match around with an enthralling display of power and precision to out-manoeuvre and overpower the Spaniard. The world number two fought tooth and nail for every point, but simply could not find the answers to Sinner’s deft power play and mastery on the court. An unreturned serve on his second match point sealed the deal for Sinner who created history by becoming the first Italian to lift the winner’s trophy in SW19.
Determined to get back into the winner’s circle after more than a year without winning a title and to banish the grass-court demons, Iga Swiatek was relentless on her journey to the final, dropping just one set. In the final, she kept her unbeaten record in Grand Slam finals well and truly alive with a sensational statement win.
An all-European much-anticipated first Slam final between Aryna Sabalenka and Swiatek was not to be, as American Amanda Anisimova rewrote the script, upsetting the world number one in a thrilling semifinal. Swiatek saw off Belinda Bencic, who was playing in her second career Slam semifinal, with the eighth seed simply too strong for the Swiss mum. Swiatek carried that form into the final, dominating an overwhelmed and out-of-sorts Anisimova to post a 6-0 6-0 win. The victory was a full-circle moment in London for the Pole who was the Junior Wimbledon champion in 2018.
The Australian Open is now the only major title to elude Swiatek and she will be more motivated than ever to reach a first final Down Under and secure the final jewel in her Grand Slam crown. But first, on to New York…
For full results from all events, go to www.wimbledon.com