Last week’s main event was the Youth Cup Daniel Usón In Memoriam, a Category 2 combined 14 and 16 & Under event held at the Sánchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, Spain. The event marked another great leap forward for Julia Payola. Last year the Spaniard won the 14 & Under event as a 12 year old, and this year she breezed through the 16 & Under draw to lift the trophy for the second time at just 13 years of age. The sixth seed’s biggest test came in third round against compatriot Nuria Ormeno Ruiz, as the wild card took the first set 7-5 before Payola fought back for a 6-3 7-5 win. In the final, Payola despatched fifth seeded Bulgarian Vivian Zlatanova 6-1 6-4.
The 16 & Under boys’ event was won by British top seed Shakeel Manji, who won his second title of the season with a 6-3 6-3 win over Vadym Ursu of Ukraine. There was British success in the doubles too; as Aswin Lizen teamed with Thomas Weirather of Liechtenstein for a marathon 4-6 7-6 14-12 win over home hopes Pepe Batalla & Marc Collado Castells. Meanwhile, the girls’ doubles title went to Spanish-Moldovan pair Paula Badosa & Aliona Bolsova.
The 14 & Under girls’ tournament was particularly successful for top seed Fanny Stollar (HUN). She teamed with Simone Alipieva (BUL) to take the doubles title on Saturday, and the pair returned to the court the next day for the singles final, won by Stollar 6-2 4-6 6-4. The win marked her second title of the season, from five final appearances. The 14 & Under boys’ final was an all-Spanish battle in which Summer Cups team member Pedro Martinez Portero won his first Tennis Europe Junior Tour title with a 6-4 6-1 win over qualifier Jorge Lopez Perez Fuster.
Attended by Emilio Sánchez Vicario and Sergio Casal, the award ceremony featured an emotional tribute to Dani Uson, a player from the Sanchez-Casal Academy who died last year, and to whom the tournament was named in tribute.
Another Category 2 16 & Under event was held in Steinfort, Luxembourg, where a brother and sister team hit the headlines. Christopher Hobgarski and his 14-year old sister Katharina won the singles events, scoring some impressive upsets along the way. Christopher began by beating top seed Vasilios Stavropoulos (GRE) in the first round, and then went on to account for three more seeds including a 6-4 6-2 final win over German compatriot Yannis Ockernahl. Katharina Hobgarski was seeded third in her event, and won the title when #2 Anna Iakovleva (RUS) was forced to retire when trailing 6-2 1-0. There was more German success in the boys doubles, won by Gereon Heitmann & Lukas Schaefer, whilst Natusho Arakawa (JPN) teamed with Iakovelva for the girls’ title.
The 14 & Under Pécs Junior Tennis Cup in Hungary saw Russia’s Grigory Potemkin win his third Category 2 title of the season with a decisive 6-3 6-1 victory over second seed Filip Grbic (SRB) in the final. Girls’ champion Dalma Galfi (HUN) kept up her perfect record in Pécs. Having won another Tennis Europe Junior Tour event there in June, she battled her way through the draw for a second time, beating Slovakia’s Tamara Kupkova 6-0 5-7 6-3 to take the title. Kupkova had earlier won the girls’ doubles title alongside compatriot Katarina Majorova, whilst home players Richard Farkas & Barnabas Koncz won the boys’.
The Category 3 Instirig Cup in Bals had a heavy contingent of home players, so it was no surprise that Romanians walked away with all available titles. Third seed Alexandru Grigorescu beat Gabriel Niculescu to take the boys’ title, while top seed Iulia Ivascu survived a first set tie break to beat Alexandra Turcu for the girls’ title.
The boys’ doubles was the only event to feature a non-Romanian player in action on finals day, but Russia’s Timur Igamberdyev had to settle for second place, as he and Romanian partner Dragos Madaras lost to Sorin Iordache & Calin Manda. The girls’ doubles went to Ivascu and partner Andreea Rosca, a winner of five 12 & Under events already this season.
There was just one 12 & Under event last week, the Reduta Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria. Boys’ winner Leonid Sheyngezikht came through the qualifying competition to take his second title of the season with a 6-1 6-4 win over fellow-Russian Elisey Savenkov. Meanwhile Inci Ogut (TUR) continued her successful run, winning the girls’ singles for the loss of just three games to Bistra Petreska (MKD) and extend her winning streak to 15 matches.
This week on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour sees five 14 & Under and two 16 & Under events. All the latest draws and results can be found here.