Last week was another exceptionally busy one on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, with over 1,000 players in action at thirteen events for children of three age groups.
The biggest event of the week in terms of points on offer was the Category 1 International Tournament of Foligno (ITA), which attracted a strong draw including some of the ITF Touring Teams from around the world. The boys’ champion was Francisco Bahamonde of Argentina, who blasted his way through the draw unseeded, accounting for #1 seed Petros Chrysochos (CYP) in the quarter finals and #2 Alexander Lebedyn (UKR) in a marathon 6-2 6-7(3) 6-3 final.
Italy’s Georgia Brescia had a similar run to the girls’ title, beating top seed Iryna Shymanovich (BLR) in the second round before going on to outlast Ukraine’s Kateryna Sliusar 1-6 6-4 6-3. Her victory came in her first appearance at a Tennis Europe Junior Tour event since winning the Mestre title almost one year ago.
Italians also did well in the doubles, with Sasha Merzetti & Andrea Pellegrino teaming up to take the boys’ crown and Verena Meliss partnering Katharina Hobgarski of Germany to win the girl’s title.
The Category 2 Zabrze Open in Poland saw Michal Dembek extend his winning streak to ten matches, winning his second successive event following victory in Radom last week. He dropped just one game to Polish compatriot Oliver Szabo in the final, though Szabo took the doubles title with partner Remigiusz Przadka. The girls’ singles and doubles titles went to to Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova, who outlasted Ioana Pietroui (ROU) 6-3 4-6 6-3 for her second singles win of the season, and teamed with Alina Semashko for a second doubles title.
The Category 3 Tirana Open in Albania saw a big breakthrough for Italy’s Maurizio Speziali. Having won three main draw matches last season on the 14 & Under circuit, Speziali came through the qualifying competition before winning five matches to take the title, including a three-set win over third seed Pero Mihaljevic (CRO) in the final. Spezili also took the doubles crown with compatriot Manfred Fellin. Barbara Bacic & Marija Curnic (CRO) took the girls’ doubles title, while Curnic fell just short of defending her singles title, losing 6-7(6) 1-6 to Bulgarian fourth seed Elizabeth Danailova.
The Category 3 Children’s Day Cup in Chisinau, Moldova saw Olexiy Kolisnyk of Ukraine continue his excellent recent run, winning his third singles and fourth doubles titles of the season so far. The singles final was a repeat of the Kiev title decider a few weeks ago, in which he beat compatriot Maxim Ratniuk, with Kolisnyk this time coming from behind for a 2-6 6-2 6-3 win. The pair also faced each other in the doubles final, which Kolisnyk won with Aleksandr Malyshev over Ratniuk and partner Aleksei Khmoich (BLR), 6-4 6-2.
Top seed Ana Testemitanu kept the home flag flying by taking the girls’ title – her third of the season – with a 6-3 7-5 win over Alina Zubkova (BLR). Zubkova managed to go one better in the doubles event though, claiming the title alongside Ukraine’s Anastasiya Klymenko.
In terms of the numbers of players on site, the week’s busiest event was the Frogner tournament in Oslo, Norway, a Category 3 event for players aged 14 and 16 & under. There was plenty for the home players and fans to cheer about, with Casper Ruud and Dorothea Faa Hviding coming through to win both singles and doubles titles (alongside Johannes and Malene Helgo respectively) in the Under 14 event.
The 16 & Under boys’ final was won by Finland’s Eero Vasa by the unusual score of 0-6 7-5 6-1 over Jesper Akerlund (SWE), while the doubles crown went to Germans Raffael Beck & Maximilian Scholl. There was more joy for home players in the girls’ 16 & Under event, as Pauline Jahren beat Ida Skancke in an all-Norwegian singles final, with Skancke also teaming up with Russia’s Ekaterina Antropova for the doubles title.
14 & Under
Alessandra Simonelli has had some great results at tournaments in her home country of Italy so far this year, winning the title in Brindisi and reaching the final in Pavia just last week, so it was no surprise to see her win her second Tour title of the year at the Category 2 title in Correggio. She faced Russia’s Sofia Zhuk in the final for a second consecutive week, but turned the tables on the Pavia champion to win 6-4 6-4.
There was an all-Italian boys’ final, as Filippo Mora beat Riccardo Balzerani 6-4 6-3 to complete his route through the tournament without the loss of a set.
The boys’ doubles went to Enrico Dalle Valle & Giovanni Fonio who won their second consecutive title together when Geoffrey Blancaneaux (FRA) & Andrea Guerrieri retired whilst trailing 0-4 in the first set. Ludmilla Samsonova (RUS) & Anna Turco (ITA) claimed the girls’ title; a first Tour doubles win for either player.
Hungary has some outstanding 14 & Under players at the moment, and several of them took the opportunity to shine at home at the Pecs Junior Tennis Cup 1. Boy’s top seed Mate Valkusz consolidated his European Top 10 spot by winning the boys’ title, conceding just two games to his final opponent, Alex de Minaur (AUS). Fanny Stollar won her first singles title since Barcelona last September in the girls’ event, also dropping just two games to beat Germany’s Alissia Gleixner. Both doubles titles went to unseeded pairs, with Constantin Frantzen & Luca Wiedenmann (GER) winning the boys’ event and Aleksa Cveticanin & Jamie Fourlis (AUS) winning the girls’.
The Category 3 SEB Tallink Open in Estonia saw great performances from some of the host country’s leading boys. Top seed Mattias Siimar withstood a strong battle from Russia’s Alexy Aleshchev to take the singles title 6-3 5-7 7-6(2), having earlier teamed with his brother Kristofer Siimar to take the doubles crown.
Lima Humaloja became the first Finnish girl to win a Tennis Europe Junior Tour title this year, overcoming Marina Antonova (RUS), who had earlier take the doubles crown alongside sister Elena Antonova, 7-5 6-3.
The Category 3 EuroElite.info DISPUK 14s Summer Cup in Falkoping was totally dominated by home players, with Swedes accounting for all semi-final spots in every event. Sandra Ortevall scored a double victory, beating Kajsa Stegrell for the singles title and teaming with Adba Sofradzija for the doubles. The boys’ events saw second seed Gilbert Jaeger beat Tobias Lindberget for the singles crown while Henrik Atlevi & William Lindqvist Nilsson took the doubles.
Curiously, all four finals at the Kopovagur Open in Iceland saw German players beat Russians for the titles. The boys’ singles went to Nicolas Mayr who upset top seed Timur Igamberdyev 6-3 6-1. They earlier faced each other in the doubles, with Mayr and partner Patrick Zahraj beating Igamberdyev & Andrey Landgraf 6-4 6-1. The situation was repeated in the girls’ events, where Vivien Klein and Marie-Charlot Lonnemann beat Anna Chernova & Anna Ukolova for the doubles title before Klein came back from a set down to beat Chernova to take the singles crown.
12 & Under
The Luka Koper Open powered by Babolat singles titles went to two of the two of the most impressive players on the 12 & Under circuit so far this year. Romania’s Stefan Palosi took the boys’ honours, taking a second title of the season with a three-set win over Georgii Kravchenko (UKR).
Anastasia Kulikova of Russia took her third title of the season, beating Lian Benedejcic (SRB) to add to wins in Sergiev Posad and Siauliai. Benedejcic got some consolation by winning the doubles title with compatriot Anja Gal, while the boys’ doubles went to Nico Hornitschek (GER) & Karlo Suevich (CRO). Gallery.
Meanwhile, at the 13th Euroregion Nisa Cup in Hradek nad Nisou (CZE), local players kept alive impressive recent runs. Lucie Kankova recorded her twelfth successive singles win to add to her Passagespoirs title of a fortnight ago, also adding the doubles title for good measure with Czech compatriot Anna Kynclova. Evzen Holis also won in Passagespoirs but fell at the last hurdle as he attempted to repeat Kankova’s feat and was forced to retire after losing the first set to Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko in the final. Holis did manage to win the doubles event though, teaming with David Sedlar to take his third doubles title of the year so far.
There are a further 12 Tennis Europe Junior Tour events taking place this week across the three age groups, highlighted by the Category 1 16 & Under tournament in Montecatini (ITA). To keep up with all the latest draws and results, click here.