Elizaveta Anikina (EST) and Jonas Waelti (SUI) have been crowned as the 50th European 14 & Under Champions in Most, Czechia. Both players upset the top seeds in their finals, though their paths to victory in Sunday’s matches contrasted sharply.
16th seed Anikina began tentatively against the current European #1 Mariia Kocherzhenko, who held on to an early break to take the first set 6-3. The rallies were long and punishing but in the early stages the Ukrainian was winning the majority of points. Anikina seemed spurred on by the loss of the first set, and the rhythm of the match began to change: the rallies were still long and punishing – the entire match took 2 hours 45 minutes – but increasingly began to go the way of the Estonian, who levelled 6-3 and established a 5-1 lead in the third.
She eventually served out a memorable 3-6 6-3 6-2 win to collect her 17th Tennis Europe Junior Tour title, becoming just the second ever player from her country to win the European Junior Championships (following Kaia Kanepi’s 16 & Under triumph in 2000). Reviewing her performance, she told the Junior Tour's Instagram, “We’re really good friends and so I was very happy to play against her in the final. The match was very tight. Even though I didn’t play my very best, I’m happy with how I fought to the end.”
Shortly afterwards, Jonas Waelti won the first-ever all-Swiss final, adding another accolade to his impressive season. He was firmly in control throughout the match as he cruised past team-mate and frequent doubles partner Richard Mitchell 6-2 6-1. The pair – who have won two Super Category doubles titles together this season – are more than familiar with each other’s games, and Waelti drew their head-to-head record level with one win apiece.
Waelti arrived in Most fresh from his triumph at the Wimbledon Invitational tournament and had no trouble adapting to the clay courts. Seeded seventh, he bossed his way through the tournament, winning all six matches in straight sets, and conceding a total of just six games in the last two matches. He commented, “It was not easy, with a just a few days to prepare, but I am very happy I was able to continue like at Wimbledon here.”
He is the fourth Swiss player to win the title, the others being Martina Hingis (1992), Michal Kratochvil (1993) and Nikola Djosic (2021).
With the win, the two champions guaranteed their spots at the Tennis Europe Junior Masters in Monte-Carlo in October. A boon for Anikina, who began the week ranked just #239 in the Race to Masters. Waelti was already ranked #3, behind #1 Mitchell, while Kocherzhenko is also likely to qualify for the season-ending showdown, currently standing in third place.
The four finalists were presented with cheques from Tennis Europe Official Strategic Assets partner TOWA (pictured), who will reimburse the players for tennis-related expenses to the value of €200 (winners) and €100 (runners-up).
Bronze medals went to third seed Liam Sharkey (GBR) and #9 Anastasis Mosaikos (CYP) in the boys’ event, while unseeded Liv Bretscher (SUI) and #15 Anna Kuznetsova (UKR) claimed the girls’ bronzes.
Doubles
Liam Sharkey added a second medal in the doubles, claiming doubles gold alongside Oskar Laskowski. The pair justified their top seeding by beating Spain’s Pablo Jimenez Roman & Jorge Mateo Moreno 6-1 7-6.
It was a great week for the Brits, who breezed to the title without dropping a set in five matches, and only in the final were pushed as far as a tie break. The pair responded well to pressure, as Sharkey said, “We played very well in the first set but in second we slowed down and they came back. We saved six set points though and managed to win in the tie-break.” Both players also served on Britain’s winning Tennis Europe Summer Cups team just a month ago and complete the sweep of European Individual and Team Championships.
The girls’ final saw a commanding performance from second seeds Olivia Serena Conticello & Giulia Luchetti of Italy. They dropped just five games to Liv Bretscher & Lilly Falkenberg, ending the run of the Swiss upset merchants.
Though they had not played together until this week, the Italians proved to be a formidable partnership, racing to the title without dropping a set. The win marks a second Junior Tour doubles title for Luchetti, and third for Conticello, and they become the first Italian team to win the girls’ title in almost 30 years and third overall, following Boschieri/Favini (1986) and Vinci/Chieppa (1997).
The runner-up spot ensured Switzerland’s best ever medal haul at the 14 & Under event – a total of four including doubles silver, singles bronze for Bretscher, and gold and silver in the boys’ singles. Switzerland also topped the ‘Nations’ Ranking’ and were awarded the newly-designed Nations Trophy, which was presented by Sartor as well as all medals ).
Beyond the Baseline…
There was plenty of action off court too, as players attended a Tennis Europe Junior School session on the eve of the tournament, where guest speakers from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) joined the class to discuss anti-doping and anti-corruption. Players were given a sneak peek at the future of Tennis Europe merch thanks to a giveaway from new apparel partners Fourteen.
National coaches were also invited to a special feedback/discussion session with Tennis Europe staff, aimed at fostering greater communication and understanding the needs of coaches and players on the Junior Tour.
During the tournament, Tennis Europe and the Czech Tennis Association announced that the European 14 & Under Championships will remain in the Czech Republic for three more years. Since its launch 50 years ago, thirteen former singles world #1s and fourteen doubles world #1s have featured among the former champions.
For more information from Most, visit the tournament live blog, which featured round the clock coverage, live scores and streaming, social media highlights and an extensive photo gallery.
The European 16 & Under Championships will be held in Parma (ITA) from 20-26 September, while the 18 & Under takes place the previous week (14-20 September), in Oberpullendorf (AUT). Dunlop is the Official Ball Provider at all three events.