The Open Super 12 in Auray, France, has long been established as one of the toughest events on the 12 & Under calendar, and this year was no exception with many of the best players in the age group coming from all over the world for the 64-draw tournament that attracted crowds of over 1,000 people during the finals. A strong Canadian contingent fared particularly well, with Charlotte Robillard-Millette reaching the girls’ semi finals and Victor Krustev reaching the boys’ final at the expense of compatriot Benjamin Sigouin. Russia’s Artem Dubrivnyy faced yet another Canadian in the other semi final, outlasting Felix Auger Aliassime 6-2 1-6 6-1 before going on to beat Krustev 6-2 6-2 for the title.
It is perhaps not surprising that there was an all-Canadian boys’ doubles final, though sadly the match was never played, as Auger Aliassime & Alexis Galarneau had a walkover win due to a withdrawal by Krustev & Sigouin.
The girls’ event was won by Anastasia Mikheeva of Great Britain. The Boulougne champion took her second title of the season with a 6-2 7-5 win over Anna Slovakova (CZE). Slovakova also reached the doubles final, teaming with Marketa Vondrousova, but lost to Russian pair Anna Ureke & Sofya Zhuk.
On the 14 & under circuit, European #1 Andrey Rublev (RUS) strengthened his position at the top of the rankings with a victory at the Category 1 Tim Essonne event in St. Genevieve des Bois, France. Rublev faced Tim Van Rijthoven of the Netherlands in the final. The Dutch player had upset two of the Tour’s most in form players as he carved his way through the bottom half of the draw, accounting for second Bogdan Borza in the first round and 6th seed Kenneth Raisma in the quarter finals. Rublev gained the upper hand after a marathon first set, taking a 16-point tie break, and confirming his win with a 6-3 second set for his fourth 14 & Under title.
The girls’ final was a battle between fourth seed Valenti Grammatikopoulou of Greece and second seed Ana Konjuh of Croatia, and saw the Greek player stretch her Tennis Europe Junior Tour win streak to 11 matches, easing to a 6-4 6-3 win to record her second title in three weeks, and ensure a return to the Top 10.
Bogdan Borza made up for his first round singles loss by pairing with Romanian compatriot Nicolae Frunza to take the doubles title over top seeded Czechs Michal Dembek and Dominik Stary. A Czech team had better luck in the girls’ final, with Miriam Kolodziejova and Vendula Zovincova taking their second title of the season.
The other 14 & Under event last week was the Category 3 Volvo Open in Helsinki. German qualifier Fabien Fallert scooped both boys titles, beating Sweden’s Jesper Akerlund for the singles crown and teaming with Till Werner for the doubles. Britain’s Gabrielle Taylor won the girls title over Russia’s Viktoria Kulesh. There was an all-Russian girls’ doubles final, won by Antonina Lysakova & Elizaveta Voronova.
The 16 & Under Tour had a busy week, with three Category 2 and two Category 3 events held. At the Tournoi International 15-16 du Chambon sur Lignon in France, home players dominated, with seven of the eight semi finalists being French players. Thomas Brechemier won the boys event, following up a win over top seed Quentin Halys to beat Hugo Perrin for the title. In the girls’ event, seventh seed Alizee Michaud fought back from a set down to beat Marine Beugre Guyot 2-6 6-2 6-4.
Halys teamed with Florian Lakat for the boys doubles, while overseas players managed to claim the girls doubles, with Spanish-Russian pair Paula Gutierrez Perez and Alexandra Kazanova winning a marathon match to secure the title.
At the Category 2 10th Realsport Open in Milovice (CZE), top seed Matej Maruscak (SVK) earned his fifth 16 & Under title on the Tour, conceding just five games to Austrian Max Voglgruber (pictured, above). Ioana Rosca of Romania claimed her second 16 & under title, easing past Monika Stanikova 6-4 6-3.
Both doubles titles went to teams earning their second victories of the season. Pavel Staubert & Jaroslav Vondrasek (CZE) won the opening event of 2011, (also in Milovice), while girls champions Elena Golovnyova (BLR) & Hanna Karczewska (POL) also won in Siauliai.
The Category 2 Amos Mansdorf event in Ashkelon, Israel, saw Cypriot Petros Chrysochos fight back from a set down to oust home hope Alon Elia 3-6 6-1 7-5 to secure his first 16 & Under title, while top seeded Anastasia Zablotsyaka (BLR) won the girls’ event with a 6-3 6-3 win over Anastasiya Shestakova (UKR)
The boys and girls doubles titles went to Israeli pair Yehonatan Kaufman & Noam Mazor and Nicoleta-Catalina Dascalu & Evgeniya Ivanichenko (UKR) respectively. Many of the players will stay on in Ashkelon for a second week of play this week.
Nastola, Finland, hosted the Category 3 Pajulahti Cup, where Russian players dominated, taking home all of the silverware. Top seed Alexander Spirin won an all-Russian boys’ final over Ivan Avdeed, while Maria Tkachuk handed the same fate to Russian compatriot Anastasia Pribylova in the girls event. Spirin also won the doubles, with Oleg Kurbatov, while the Pribylovas – Anastasia and Anna, took the girls doubles.
The Category 3 Schroders Private Banking Cup in Taverne, Switzerland was a great event for Italian boys. Playing his first 16 & Under event of the season, last years 14 & Under European Championships runner-up Filippo Baldi recovered to beat compatriot Simone Roncalli 4-6 6-3 6-3. A day earlier, Baldi teamed with Cristian Carli to take the doubles title.
Home players dominated the girls’ events, with all four singles semi-finalists being Swiss nationals. Seventh seed Sara Ottomano emerged triumphant, taking the title over Danielle Spielmann when the eighth seed retired whilst trailing 6-1 3-3. The two losing semi finalists, Nina Stadler & Chiara Grimm, teamed up to take the doubles title.
This week sees the first event of the two-week ITF/Tennis Europe Development Championships in Antalya, a closed event for players from nations benefitting from the ITF/Tennis Europe development Programme. Also on Tour, Kaleva (FIN) hosts a joint 14/16 & Under event, whilst Kosice (SVK) and Minsk (BLR) hold 14 & Under tournaments.