The Romanian girls and Czech boys have won this year’s 16 & Under Summer Cup trophies with victories over France and Germany, respectively.
The Czechs have won title yet again, having done so on three previous occasions as well as an additional two titles as part of Czechoslovakia.
This is the second title for the Romanian girls, with their previous win in this event coming in 2006. They say revenge is sweet, and this victory may be even sweeter given that they fell at the final hurdle to Great Britain last year. The added cherry on top also being that they toppled the Brits undefeated in the first match in the final rounds.
This year’s Summer Cups saw a welcome return to the Junior Tour many of Tennis Europe’s biggest junior stars of recent years. The Federations brought out some of their big guns for this tournament with familiar names, such as a Jana Kovackova (CZE), Daniel Jade (FRA), Ksenia Efremova (FRA) and Giulia Popa (ROU), amongst others, gracing the courts.
This once again underlines the importance and significance of the 16&U European junior outdoor team championships, which also serves as regional qualifying for the Junior Davis Cup Finals and Junior Billie Jean King Cup Finals. (full list below)
GIRLS | ROMANIA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL
Qualifying Rounds - bye, def Serbia 3-0, def Ukraine 2-1
Final Rounds - def. Great Britain 3-0, def. Poland 2-1, def. France 2-0
An unexpected singles loss to Polina Skliar in the qualifying finals sent Giulia Popa on a mission in the final rounds, with the Romanian #1 going unbeaten in her three singles matches. In the final against France, Popa faced 2022 Junior Masters 14&U champion Ksenia Efremova. The pair had only met once before, on hardcourt, which Safina won in three sets. Today, on clay, it was another story as Popa convincingly shut out her French opponent in straight sets 6-4 6-2.
After the final, Popa evaluated her performance, “It was a very difficult match against a very good player! Ksenia never makes things easy on the court when you have her as an opponent. More than that, the pressure is very different for me when playing a team competition, but I just kept my focus and I gave everything to every single point.”
Earlier Maia Ilinca Burcescu came from behind to beat Cindy Langlais 3-6 6-3 6-2. Popa’s win wrapped up the tie for Romania: “The entire team is overwhelmed with joy, but the main goal for us from the very beginning was the gold medal! We played believing that we will win the gold, as last year we played the final as well, getting the silver! We are extremely happy with this great result! It was a team effort, a team hunger for the gold! We thank everyone for the support!”
BOYS | CZECHIA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL
Qualifying Rounds - def. Hungary 3-0, def. Poland 3-0, def. Germany 2-1
Final Rounds - def. Italy 3-0, def. France 2-1, def. Germany 2-1
It was a case of déjà vu for Czechia who faced Germany for the second time in five days. There was also an uncanny reversal of fortunes for all four singles players, as the losers from the singles matches in the qualifying finals got their revenge today and flipped the results of Friday’s matches. First Filip Ladman (CZE) turned the tables on Eric Dylan Mueller (GER), coming back from one set down to win 2-6 6-1 6-3. Following that, Vincent Jakob Reisach put in a 6-2 6-4 win over Jakub Kusy and down to the doubles it went. The two Czech players returned to the court to face Mueller and Jannik Sotebier. A break in each set was all the Czechs needed to get the job done, winning the title with a 6-4 6-4 win.
After the win, Kusy was thrilled, saying “it’s an unbelievable feeling for me and the whole team! We were scared of qualies and now we are the champions of Europe!! It was a crazy couple of days for us and I’m so proud of myself and the team that we made it today!”
Teammate Ladman added, “it was a great experience for the whole team and we are so happy and grateful for the opportunity to play here.”
FINAL STANDINGS > JUNIOR DAVIS CUP + JUNIOR BILLIE JEAN KING CUP
The 16 & Under Summer Cups also serves as the European regional qualifying event for the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup: the top 6 teams at the final rounds (in bold below) will go on to compete at the finals in Santiago, Chile, from 3-9 November. The final standings are as follows:
BOYS:
- Czechia
- Germany
- France
- Slovakia
- Türkiye
- Spain
- Italy
- Sweden
GIRLS:
- Romania
- France
- Poland
- Czechia
- Great Britain
- Austria
- Ukraine
- Hungary