The AEGON International Teen Tennis event in Bolton (GBR) was the biggest tournament of 2013 so far, a Category 1 14 & Under tournament that featured some of the world’s best players of the age group, including a strong contingent from the United States who were making their traditional trip to Europe for back-to-back Category 1 events here and at Tarbes.
The visiting Americans made a huge impact on the girls’ draws, accounting for two of the four semi-finalists. Eighth seed Michaela Gordon ended the hopes of #1 Valeriya Yushchenko (RUS) 6-2 6-1 in the quarterfinals, before falling to unseeded Lucie Wargnier of France. In the other half of the draw another American, Catherine Cartan Bellis, had better luck, ousting Eva Guerrero Alvarez (ESP) to reach the final. There she beat Wargnier 6-2 6-4 to capture her first Tennis Europe Junior Tour singles title, a day after claiming the doubles crown in an all-American final alongside Jaeda Daniel over Gordon & Claire Liu.
Overseas players also did well in the boys’ draw, with a pair of Australians (Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin) reaching the quarterfinals, but the star of the show was eventual champion Corentin Moutet of France. Having survived the qualifying competition, he breezed through the main draw for the loss of just one set (to Britain’s Max Stewart in the quarter finals) and scored impressive wins over second seed Kacper Zuk (POL) in the semi-finals, and in-form Ergi Kirkin (TUR) in the final. There was some consolation for Kirkin in winning the doubles, where he teamed up Popyrin of Australia for a 6-4 6-0 win over Swedes Jonas Eriksson Ziverts & Karl Friberg.
Anna Slovakova flew the flag for the host nation at the Category 2 12th Realsport Open in Milovic, Czech Republic. Having won the doubles at the 16 & Under event at the same venue the previous week, she made the most of a wild card to sweep both the 14 & Under singles and doubles events. Slovakova won over 30 consecutive games to reach the semi-finals and went on to oust top seed Tatiana Makarova (RUS) in the final. Earlier she teamed up with Monika Kilnarova to take the doubles title over compatriots Sabina Drabkova & Sara Vancurova. The boys’ doubles trophy also fell into Czech hands, with Marek Dubsky & Jan Lenoch taking the title when compatriots Dominik Langmajer & Frantisek Pechala were unable to play the final. The boys’ singles went to top seed Artem Dubrvinyy of Russia who secured his second 14 & under title with a 6-2 6-1 win over unseeded Tadeus Paroulek (CZE).
Having teamed up to win the doubles event at the Category 3 Narva Cup in Estonia, Belarusian players Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka & Katsiaryna Markevich were on opposite sides of the net for the singles final. Yemelyanenka was forced to come from behind to win, but recovered to outlast her friend 4-6 6-2 6-0. The win capped a great week for Yemelyanenka, who won back-to-back main draw matches for the first time before scoring her first ever singles and doubles titles on the Tour.
The boys’ championship went to Anatolii Rainin of Ukraine. Appearing in his third final, the top seed sealed his first 14 & under singles title with a 6-2 3-6 6-2 win over Russia’s Denis Vashchenkov. Henri Nael & Siim Troost collected silverware for a second week running, winning the boys doubles with a 6-0 6-2 win over Robin Parts & Johannes Seeman in an all-Estonian final.
Two 12 & under events were also held last week. At the Quality Hotel Open in Vanersborg (SWE), Denmark’s Sebastien Grundtvig established himself as the most successful player so far in 2013. Building on his win in the doubles at the first event of the year in Boulogne Billancourt, he swept both the singles and doubles titles, beating Osman Torski (GER) for the singles crown and teaming up with compatriot Eric Vanshelboim for the doubles.
The girls’ title went to Russia’s Irina Shetinina, a 6-2 6-2 winner over Sara Salemyr of Sweden. There was better luck for Sweden in the doubles though, as Victoria Carlsten & Frida Furst paired up to take the title.
Home players did well at the first Properties Khimki Junior Open in Russia. Anastasia Potapova blasted through the girls without losing a set, beating Boulogne Billancourt finalist Olga Nosova (RUS) in the final and teaming with Ekaterina Makarova for the doubles title, Makarova’s second of the season. The boys’ doubles was also won by a Russian team, with Pavel Verbin & Nikita Yanin taking the honours, while the singles crown went to Oleksiy Shestakov of Ukraine, who triumphed over Danila Moroz of Belarus in a tough match, 6-3 2-6 6-0.
This week the Tennis Europe Junior Tour sees the return of the legendary Les Petits As event in Tarbes, considered by many to be the unofficial indoor world championships for players aged 14 & Under. There is one other 14 & Under event, in Mogilev (BLR), while the 16 & Unders play in Vsevolozhsk (RUS). Keep up with all the latest results here.