Romania won their first ever boys’ title at the European Summer Cups with a 3-0 win over Copa del Sol hosts Spain in Magaluf, Mallorca. Fielding a team featuring two of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour’s Top 10 players – Nicolae Frunza and Bogdan Borza - the top seeds advanced to the final for the first time and capitalised against a team that had not won the 14 & Under championship since 2002.
The two teams were facing each other for the second time in a week, with the match a repeat of the final Zone D qualifying match, also held in Magaluf. The result was the same however, as European #8 Frunza survived a close first set to beat Pedro Martinez Portero (the two are pictured above) 7-5 6-3 before #3 Borza put in a dominant performance to beat Jaume Munar Clar 6-3 6-3. With the tie decided, Ion Efrim teamed up with Frunza to beat Martinez Portero and Miguel Semmler 6-2 6-2.
Borza, who has won two singles and two doubles titles already this year, will rise to second in the rankings next week, while Frunza, who swept singles and doubles in Sliven, will also break into the Top 5.
Romania had earlier ended France’s three-year stranglehold on the tournament in decisive style in the semi finals, with Frunza beating Mandresy Rakotomalala 6-3 6-3 before Borza sealed a memorable victory with a titanic 6-7(2) 6-4 8-6 win over Ronan Joncour. Belarus later beat France in the play-off match to claim third place overall.
Europa Cup
Russia overcame a stern test from second seeds Serbia at the girls’ Europa Cup finals in Loano, Italy. The top seeds and two-time defending champions took an early lead as Anastasia Rychagova beat Nikolina Jovic 6-3 6-2 in the opening match. Ivana Jorovic then caused an upset, levelling the tie with a 7-6(6) 6-4 win over European #2 Anastasiya Komardina.
Komardina and Rychagova have been this year’s strongest doubles team on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, amassing four titles, and were too strong for the Serbs in the deciding doubles match, winning 6-4 6-3 to claim an eighth European Summer Cups title for Russia’s 14 & Under girls. Komardina’s win was her 32nd consecutive doubles victory on the Tour, where she unbeaten since last September.
Having won the Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD in Feburary, Russia holds both the girls indoor and outdoor European team titles in the same season for the fifth time.
Russia had also been tested in the semi finals against Great Britain, when Rychagova and Komardina both had to come from a set down to win their singles matches against Lana Rush and Freya Christie respectively. Britain went on to claim third place with a 3-0 win over Slovenia.
A total of 63 national teams entered the 2011 14 & Under European Summer Cups. The event has a double purpose, serving also as the European qualifying competition for the ITF World Junior Tennis tournament. The top five teams from both the boys’ and girls’ events (plus the Czech Republic as hosts) will qualify to take part in the finals of the world’s team event for Under 14s in Prostejov in August.
Full draws and results from the qualifying competition and the final rounds can be found here.