Russian players have dominated the early season and were once again the main protagonists on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour last week, having a hand in eleven of the twelve 14 & Under singles and doubles titles that were won.
The week’s most prestigious event was the third Category 1 event of the season for players aged 14 & Under, the Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris in Stockholm, which once again provided live streaming of matches from two of the courts allowing fans to follow the action online.
The boys’ quarterfinals featured of the top ten European players, with the top four seeds advancing to the semifinals. There, Kacper Zuk of Poland upset second seed and doubles partner Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-4 6-4, while current European #1 Artem Dubrivnny of Russia survived a marathon match with Ergi Kirkin (TUR) 5-7 7-5 7-5.
The final match was over more quickly though, with Dubrivnyy breezing to a 6-3 6-1 win over Zuk, who had been hoping to win his second 14 & Under title. The pair could face each other again in the final of this week’s Tim Essonne championships in Ste Genevieve des Bois, France, where they are the top two seeds. The win marks already the third title of the year for Dubrivnyy, who played a part in Russia’s Winter Cups win a fortnight ago and also won the Category 2 event in Milovice in January and the doubles at Les Petits As.
Fourth-ranked Evgeniya Levashova is having a similar season to her compatriot Dubrivnyy. After winning singles and doubles at her first event of the year in Mytischi, she went on to feature in the Russian team that reached the final of the Winter Cups, and secured her biggest title so far with a victory in Stockholm. Seeded #3, Levashova had to overcome a series of fellow Russians en route to the title, including fifth seed Valeriya Yushchenko, second seed Anna Ureke and fourth seed Sofya Zhuk in a hotly contested final, eventually winning 4-6 6-4 6-2.
The Russians also dominated the girls doubles, with Ureke and Yushchenko earning a small measure of consolation for their losses to Levashova by beating her and partner Ekaterina Kazionova 6-0 4-6 10-7.
The boys doubles title went to Russian-Australian pair Philipp Klimov & Alexei Popyrin, who conceded just three games to Portuguese pair Joao Antonio & Duarte Vale. The win is Popyrin’s second Category 1 doubles title of 2013 so far, having also triumphed in Bolton with Kirkin. Gallery.
Russians also accounted for all available titles at their home event of the week, the Category 3 14 & Under Togliatti Cup. Top seed Olesya Pervushina won her second consecutive tournament with a routine 6-1 6-1 win over Tatiana Nikolaeva to take the girls crown. Nikolaeva had earlier teamed with Polina Kruglova to win the doubles.
Unseeded Semen Pankin had a great week. Ranked just #212, he raced through the singles draw without dropping a set on his way to the final, where he faced top seed Anatoli Rainin of Ukraine, the only non-Russian to reach a final in Togliatti. There it looked as Rainin’s greater experience would see him through after winning the first set 6-1. But Pankin came firing back, turning the tide to win the next two sets 6-4 6-4 and win his first ever Tennis Europe Junior Tour title.
The boys’ doubles went to Maxim Dorodnov and Nikita Kopylov, who also won the event despite not having been seeded. Gallery.
The biggest event of the week, in terms of player numbers, was the Focus Tennis Academy Open in Bleiswijk, the Netherlands, a joint Category 3 event for players aged 14 and 16 & Under.
The boys’ 14 & Under event saw an all-German final between two in-form players. Both Marvin Moeller and Rudolf Molleker had won their last Tennis Europe Junior Tour events (Moeller in Oetwil and Molleker in Zoetermeer), so a winning streak was bound to end. Unsuprisingly, the match was a hard-fought battle, with Moeller recovering from the loss of the first set to assert himself over his compatriot with a 5-7 6-1 6-1 win. Molleker shouldn’t be too disappointed though, as he earlier teamed up with Alexey Zakharov of Russia to claim his first Tennis Europe Junior Tour doubles title.
Top seed Anastasia Kulikova extended her winning run to ten matches by building on her win last week in Stockholm to take a second consecutive title. Her final opponent this week was ‘lucky loser’ Laura Rohacova of Slovakia, who made the most of her spot in the main draw by beating second seed Sofya Golubovskaya in the second round and third seed Anna Ukolova in the semi finals. Sadly for her she couldn’t complete a hat trick of the top seeds, but her ranking will fly from its current position of #380 after reaching her first Tour final.
Another player to wrap up a second consecutive title was Spain’s Jorge Lopez Perez Fuster, who completed back-to-back wins in the Netherlands with a 6-1 6-2 win over Diego Morelli of Italy in the final of the boys’ 16 & Under event and remains unbeaten in singles action on the Tour so far this season. He looks set to leap into the Top Ten of the Race to Junior Masters rankings on Tuesday as a result. Gallery.
Home fans had plenty to shout about in the girls’ final, where qualifier Philiis Vanenburg took on Dutch compatriot Liza Lebedzeva, winner of the title the previous week in Zoetermeer. Vanenburg had had a series of tough matches throughout the week, but held on to secure her first title after another marathon, the 6-2 5-7 6-4 win being her seventh win of the week.
There was further joy for Dutch players in the girls’ doubles, where Fleur Holtkamp and Tessa van der Ploeg completed a week of straight sets win to claim the title. The boys doubles went to Turkish-Portuguese pairing Berk Iliescu & Antonio Sabugueiro, who were playing together for the first time.
This week the Tour moves on with six events in total across three age categories. Keep up with all the latest draws and results here. Amongst this week’s events is the Open Super 12 in Auray, France, which will offer live streaming of matches online. Click here to follow the action from one of Europe’s top 12 & Under tournaments.