Rafael Papoian and Ketong Guo (CHN) are the champions of the year’s final Super Category event on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, lifting the trophies at the Barcelona World TEC Cup.
The already exciting event had another layer of intensity heaped on, with a handful of players neck-and-neck in the race to Monte-Carlo clamouring for those precious last available points in the Race to Monte-Carlo powered by Smartshot.
Having been played at a temporary venue on hardcourt in 2024-25, this year saw a move to a different interim club while the hosts put the final touches to their home tennis centre. The 2026 edition took place on the clay courts of the Cercle Sabadellès in nearby Sabadell.
The event was so stacked with the Junior Tour’s leading names (eight of Europe’s Top 20 boys and 11 of the Top 20 girls featured in the main draws) that even the qualifying competition was tough, so some early surprises were perhaps not so surprising. Round 2 saw Luis Saraiva (3, POR) and top girls’ seed Ella Bartakova (SVK) both fall to qualifiers.
The rain was another protagonist this week and the organisers handled the situation with aplomb while the players were able to reset and refocus brilliantly, as intermittent showers interrupted play throughout the week. The poor weather was a constant concern; the doubles finals had to be held back until the late hours of Friday night, with the spoils going to Kajetan Kosinski (POL) & Antonio Tejerina (POL) in the boys’ doubles, while the girls’ title went to Bartakova & Claire Hirschi (AUS).
Delectable match-ups for the singles semifinals saw various boys still in contention for Monte-Carlo battling for points. With a string of semi and quarterfinal appearances this year, Anastasis Mosaikos (9th in the Race) made a breakthrough on the biggest stage with his first 14&U final of the year, defeating another Monte-Carlo hopeful and top seed Bruno Dzhenev (BUL, Race #10) in a three-set semi. Papoian (6th in the Race, and a winner in Maia and Paris) made lighter work of Enzo Britto (#16, but only 135 points behind Dzhenev). The winner of the tournament has a hefty 180 points added to his Race points, so keep an eye out on Tuesday’s update – the definitive cut-off for this year’s Monte-Carlo entry list.
After another delay due to some exceptionally heavy overnight rain, the finals started later than scheduled on Sunday. In the boys’ decider, Papoian capitalised on an early break to take the first set, then quickly got another early in the second to keep the momentum on his side. Despite his best efforts and some break back opportunities, Mosaikos made more unforced errors than he would have liked while Papoian had a very solid day, sprinkling in some fantastic winners at the most opportune moments to run away with the match 6-4 6-4. Upon winning, Papoian said he was “so happy to be here (this week). It’s a good tournament…I want to say thank you to my opponent and I’m so happy to go and play in Monte-Carlo”
The girls’ final between unseeded Ketong Guo of China and #10 seed Maya Micheva (BUL) was an extremely tight match, lasting over two and a half hours. In the end it was Guo who posted a 7-6 7-6 win in what is her second home. Training in Spain with local coaches, Guo was extremely happy with her week, and remarked after the final, “She played a wonderful game. We were fighting and giving 100% on every ball and the tournament organisation was fantastic.” She claims a first Super Category title, building on her runner-up spot at Düren last month. Micheva's trophy shelf is pretty impressive too...having won two 14 & Under titles in the very last weeks of 2025, she has won two of the three 16 & Under events she has played this season.
The week kicked off with a Tennis Europe Junior School session, which included a Q&A featuring former Roland Garros champion Albert Costa. Other visitors included the Tennis Europe President, Henrik Thorsøe Pedersen, Tennis Europe’s Junior Committee Chair and Vice-President Sandi Procter, the Spanish Tennis Federation’s First Vice-President and Catalan Tennis Federation President, Jordi Tamayo De Winne.
Mr. Pedersen commented, “This is a very well organised tournament with a professional set up: it stands out because the players are treated as professionals, which is the perfect step on their pathway. We have the best players from Europe and from outside Europe competing here, so they need the best of the best and to compete at the right level in order for them to become the best in the future.”
The Tennis Europe representatives were also treated to a site visit during the week where the final touches are being put to the venue which is expected to be the home of this tournament for years to come. In line with Tennis Europe’s commitment to Climate Action, the tournament will play a key role in this milieu when it moves into the new state-of-the-art tennis centre nestled among the greenery of Barcelona’s foothills, where there is a strong focus on green tennis, recycling, minimised water use, and other sustainable practices. Find out more about the new venue here.
ℹ️ Draws and Results
Boys' Singles | Boys' Doubles | Boys' Bonus
Girls' Singles | Girls' Doubles | Girls' Bonus