Former Tennis Europe Junior Tour #1 Richard Gasquet paid a visit to the 12 & Under event in Rome last week. The current world #14 visited the Circolo Canottieri club to train whilst in town for the ATP Masters 1000 event, and took time to meet with some of the players of the Campionati internazionali BNL d’Italia Giovanili, posing for photos and sharing some tips with the delighted players. Gasquet went on to record his best result in some time, beating Roger Federer to reach the semi finals. His good form seemed to inspire some of the 12 & Under players, with two boys emerging from the qualifying competition to contest the singles final. The title went to Edris Fetisleam of Romania, who won all eight of his matches in straight sets, including the final with Alexei Popyrin (AUS). Popyrin had earlier won the doubles with Zizou Bergs (BEL). The girls’ final was a battle between two home players, with Arianna Capogrosso scoring her second win of the season to beat Rosanna Maffei. Ponta Delgada champions Marta Magalhaes & Marta Oliveira (POR) also won their second event of the season, taking the doubles crown over Maffei and Maria Kuen (ITA). [Photos]
There were a total of seven 14 & Under events last week, with the biggest being the Bohemia Cafex Cup in Rakovnik (CZE), where many of the top players were battling for the fifth Category 1 title of the season. The boy’s final saw European #1 Andrey Rublev (RUS) take on #4 Bogdan Borza (ROU). Both players have had a busy season so far, with Rublev appearing in four finals to Borza’s three. The Romanian overcame a second set fightback to win 6-1 3-6 6-1, and will rise to second in the rankings as a result. Rublev’s consolation is a second doubles title of the season (with Alexander Zverev of Germany) and an extension of his lead at #1. The girls’ title went to Anastasia Komardina, whose 2011 keeps getting better and better. The Russian’s 6-3 6-2 victory over Japan’s Natusho Arakawa will see her take over as European #1 later this week, while she also teamed up with Vendula Zovincova (CZE) to extend her incredible doubles win streak to 30 matches, a run that stretches back to last September and now includes seven titles, plus the Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD! [Photos]
Two big Category 2 events were also staged, hosting 14 and 16 & under draws, in Maribor and Kiev. At the ZTK Raiffeissen Open in Maribor (SLO), Filip Grbic (SRB) beat Kim Leon Stutz (SUI) 6-2 6-3 for the 14&U singles crown. Stutz had come from behind in three consecutive matches to reach the final but was unable to repeat the heroics against the second seed. The girls’ final was a battle between home players, with Manca Pislak beating Slovenian compatriot Nina Potocnik 6-2 6-0. In the doubles, Benjamin Hannestad (DEN) & Carl Soderlund (SWE) scored their second title of the season together (fourth overall for Hannestad), while Priscilla Hon & Sara Tomic justified their long trip from Australia to win the girls’ event.
The 16&U boys event saw the top two seeds – Lucas Miedler (AUT) and Mantas Bugailiskis (LTU) face off in the final. #1 Miedler had no trouble in sealing the victory, conceding just four games and also wrapping up the doubles title with Jason Platzer in an all-Austrian doubles final. Pia Cuk (SLO) matched the feat in the girls’ competition, surviving a nail biting singles final to beat Eva Zagorac (SLO) 4-6 7-6(3) 6-3, and teaming with Jana Jablonovska (SVK) for the doubles title.
At the Antei Cup in Kiev (UKR), home players dominated the competition, accounting for all but one of the singles and doubles final spots. Stephanie Light Deh beat Anna Zhdanova for the girls’ 14&U title while Viktoriya Gogol & Anastasiya Klymenko took the doubles. Vladyslav Kramarov took his first Tour title in the boys singles, beating qualifier Artem Kashygin 6-3 6-1. Kashygin earlier teamed with Leonid Chechel for the doubles title.
The 16&U event saw Pylyp Kekercheni and Katerina Sliusar in dominant form, each winning both singles and doubles titles. Kekercheni breezed through the singles draw without the loss of a set, though was made to work a bit harder in the doubles with Anatoliy Petrenko before sealing the win. Sliusar beat second seed Fatima Bizhukova (RUS), the only non-Ukrainian player to reach a final 6-2 6-0, a day after the pair teamed up to win the doubles event.
The rest of the events last week were Category 3 tournaments. At the 14&U Torneo Internazionale Frimm in Rome, Enrico Semprebon (ITA) won his second title of the season, beating top seed Marco Mosciatti, avenging a loss in the doubles to the same player earlier in the week. Second seed Maria Marfutina (RUS) won her first Tennis Europe Junior Tour title, beating Jill Belen Teichmann (SUI) in straight sets. The boys’ doubles title went to Gian Marco Moroni (ITA) & Dmitry Shatalin (RUS), while Constanza Pera (ITA) and Fanny Stollar (HUN) won the girls’.
The 14&U Montenegro Cup in Niksic was dominated by players from neighbouring Serbia, with top seed Dusan Vukicevic winning both boys’ singles and doubles titles (with Igor Kolaric) and Tamara Tomic repeating the sweep in the girls events, where she teamed with Jovana Knezevic (CYP).
The Svilengrad Cup in Bulgaria saw Dragos Madaras (ROU) take the title. Advancing past the quarter finals for the first time on the Tour, he got better with each match, conceding just two games to Velislav Cholakov (BUL) in the final. There was an all-Bulgarian girls’ final, with Viktoriya Bardarova beating Radina Dimitrova 7-6 (6) 61. The boys’ doubles title earlier went to Martin Dimitrov & Jordan Dinevski (BUL), while the Romanian pair Oana Gavrila & Cristiana Miruna Tudor won the girls’.
At the Lodz Cup in Poland, Patryk Krolik teamed up with Russia’s Timur Igamberdyev before adding the singles title, while Magdalena Frech ensured a title sweep for the home country, beating Nikola Dolakova (RUS) for the singles crown after Aleksandra Buczynska & Patrycja Polanska won the doubles.
The sole 16&U Category 3 event was the OP Zenica in Bosnia & Herzegovina, where Damjan Peterlin (CRO) won singles and doubles (alongside compatriot Nino Serdarusic). Serbia’s Milica Novakovic also reached both finals, winning the doubles with Jovana Kenic but losing the singles final to another compatriot Nikolina Jovic, 7-6(5) 6-2.
The Tennis Europe Junior Tour continues this week, with four 12 & Under events taking place, plus a second week of action for U14s and U16s in Maribor, a 16 & Under event in Simferopol (UKR), the 14 & Under Sport Palace Cup in Sliven (BUL), and the Category 1 PSS Piestany Cup (SVK). All the latest draws and results can be found here.