With the school holidays in full swing, there was an abundance of playing opportunities last week for Tennis Europe Junior Tour players.
The biggest event of the week, both in terms of points and draw size, was the Bavarian Junior Open in Eching, Germany, which hosted a Category 1 14 & Under and a Category 2 16 & Under tournament. Alex Molcan (SVK) continued his good run of recent form in the 14 & Under boys’ event, winning the doubles with Ondrej Krstev (CZE) before taking the singles crown over third seed Aliaksandr Halinko (BLR). Iryna Shymanovic justified her top seeding by taking the girls’ singles title – her fourth of the year – with a straight sets win over Kristina Schmiedlova (SVK). The doubles went to Olga Fridman (UKR) & Elina Nepliy (RUS), who won their second title together.
Also in Eching, Europe’s 14 & Under #1 Bogdan Borza (ROU, pictured) continued his incredible season by winning his first 16 & Under title (and fifth title of the year in total), outlasting Petros Chrysochos (CYP) 6-4 4-6 6-4. Chrysochos went one better in the doubles, teaming with Andres Zepeda (MEX) to win their second successive title together. Chrysochos has now won five doubles titles in the last six months. Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina came through an upset-strewn girls’ draw to beat fifth-seeded Serb Dzina Milovanovic, claiming her second title of the season. She also gained some revenge for the doubles final, where Milovanovic teamed with Nicoleta-Catalina Dascalu (ROU) to beat Kalinina & Shymanovic 2-6 6-2 10-6. Photos.
3 was the lucky number for winners Denys Klok and Daria Kruzhkova at the 14 & Under Baltic Cup in Kaliningrad (RUS), with both players wrapping up their third Tour titles of the season so far. Top seeded Klok (UKR) beat Dmitriy Dosuzhev (RUS) for the singles and teamed with Vadim Kolesnik (RUS) for the doubles, while Kruzhkova teamed up with Aleksandra Vostrikova to win the girls’ doubles, and then beat her in a marathon singles final 2-6 6-3 7-5.
The Category 3 Bankia Cup in Bulgaria was a breakthrough event for qualifier Eduard Adam (ROU), who reached his first Tour final before falling to second seed Stefan Milicevic (SRB). The pair also teamed up to win the doubles together. Romanians dominated the girls’ tournament; Oana Gavrila and Andrada Ioana Surdeanu teamed up to win the doubles before facing each other in the singles final, which was eventually won by the higher-ranked Surdeanu 6-2 3-6 6-4.
The Category 3 Argayon Cup in Belgium once again doubled up as a 14 and 16 & Under event. German players were upset in both the 14 & Under singles finals, with Daniil Zarichanskyy (UKR) overcoming Tim Ruehl for the boys’ title and Ludmilla Samsonova recovering from a set down to beat Vivian Wolff, a first Tennis Europe Junior Tour title for each player. In the boys’ doubles, Meppel champions Tom Beernaert & Laurens Verboven (BEL) won their second title of the year, while Tiffany Mylonas scored another home win, teaming with Patricia Boentgen (GER) to take the title.
There was a disappointing end to the boys’ 16 & Under event, as Australian qualifier Jake Delaney was unable to play, handing the title to Lukas Kepser (GER). Japan’s Natusho Arakawa won her second girls’ title with a 7-5 7-5 win over Anna Iakovleva (RUS). Iakovleva had earlier teamed with Morgane Michiels (BEL) to take the girls’ doubles, while the boys’ doubles went to Aria Harajchi (SUI), a winner in Reykjavik earlier this year, who teamed this time with Vasilios Stavropoulos (GRE).
Another joint event was the Category 3 Artur Shilajayan Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia. Mikayel Khachatryan came closest to scoring a title for the host nation, but was upset by Ruslan Khunarikov (RUS) in the 14 & Under boys singles final. Fellow Russian Karine Sarkisova won the girls’ singles over Nataliya Vlasova (UKR). Turkish pair Murat Gurel & Alp Erdogan Tezol claimed the boys’ doubles, while top seeded Anna Ilikyan (RUS) & Tamar Kutubidze (GEO) won the girls’.
The 16 & Under boys event saw repeat wins for the champions of the previous week’s event in Yerevan. Giorgi Javakhishvili (GEO) extended his winning run to nine matches, beating Sergey Baryshev (RUS) for the singles crown, while Demur Davitadze & Aleksandre Davlianidze, also of Georgia, took the doubles. Top seed Anastasia Shaulskaya beat Russian compatriot Lusine Avanesyan to take the girls’ title, and the pair also teamed up to take the doubles.
TC Haid in Austria once again hosted a Category 2 16 & Under event with a high quality draw. The event was dominated by Slovakian players, who claimed all available titles. For a second successive week, top seed Jana Jablonovska swept the girls titles, pairing up with Diana Spissakova to win the doubles before beating Fanny Stollar (HUN) to take the singles title, her fourth of the season. Matej Maruscak then repeated the feat; having won both titles in Krems, he kept his win streak alive by teaming with Samuel Hodor for the doubles title before outlasting top seed Andrey Rublev (RUS) 1-6 6-2 6-0 in the singles final.
Both singles finals at the Category 3 Viljandi Open (EST) saw an upset of a seeded Russian. Justina Mikulskyte of Lithuania brushed past Alina Semashko without the loss of a single game to claim the girls’ title, while Mika Kosonen (FIN) survived a spirited fightback from Alexander Bublik to win 7-6(9) 0-6 6-2. Kosonen also won the doubles with compatriot Ville-Petteri Ahti, while Semashko paired with Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) for the girls’ doubles.
The Neotel Open in Skopje (MKD) saw Dejana Radanovic sweep the girls titles, teaming with Serbian compatriot Bojana Marinkovic for the doubles and beating another compatriot, Emilija Dancetovic to take the singles crown. Ukraine's Oleksandr Gulyevskyy took his first ever Tour title in the boys’ event, beating Romania’s Andrei Crapcenco (who was playing his second final in Skopje in successive weeks) 3-6 6-4 6-4. The doubles title went to fifth-seeded Greeks Alejandro Capdequi & Eleftherios Theodorou.
12 & Under
The KOCI a.s. Cup in Pisek, Czech Republic, was a happy hunting ground for local players. Tomas Jirousek won an all-Czech boys final over Martin Bugaj, while Martin Safar & Daniel Velek won the doubles. Radka Buzkova & Martina Kudelova took the girls doubles, and Anna Kynclova reached the girls final, where she was beaten by the only non-Czech player in action on the final day, Egypt’s Sara Ismail.
The week’s other 12 & Under event, the Michalovce Cup, was held across the border in the Slovak Republic, and saw Nefisa Berberovic win her second title in three weeks, with a win over home hope Alexandra Pillarova. There was more disappointment for Slovak players in the boys’ final, as Igor Karpovets (UKR) beat Samuel Grman. Maria Lyven & Angelina Shakhraychuk made it two titles for Ukraine, taking the girls doubles, while Romanians Raul-Alin Dicu & George David Ilie won the boys doubles.
This week sees another 11 Tennis Europe Junior Tour titles up for grabs across the three age categories, highlighted by the joint Mercedes Jugend Cup in Renningen/Rutesheim. You can follow all the latest results here.