Last week was the busiest of the year so far on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, with well over 1,000 players competing in 13 tournaments across three age categories.
14 & Under
The week’s main event was the Bohemia Cafex Cup in Rakovnik (CZE), where many of the Tour’s the top 14 & Under players were in action. Marketa Vondrousova flew the home flag, claiming the girls’ singles title with a 6-0 6-3 win over top seed Amina Anshba to take her second consecutive Category 1 title. Anshba had earlier teamed up with Russian compatriot Marta Paygina to win the doubles. On the boys’ side, Jurij Rodionov of Belarus also won a second consecutive title, and in fine style; he beat European #1 Artem Dubrivnyy (RUS) in the quarter finals before going on to beat two more top ten players, Kacper Zuk (POL) and Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) in the last two rounds. With the wins, Rodionov is likely to return to the Top Ten when the rankings are updated on Tuesday. The boys’ doubles went to the Czech/Polish team of Patrik Rikl & Kacper Zuk.
The lone Category 2 event for players aged 14 & under last week was the Opalenica Cup in Poland. Russian players dominated the girls’ events, with Alexandra Dubrovina & Elizaveta Volodko taking the doubles title, and top seed Valerya Yushchenko beating home hope Julia Oczachowska 6-0 6-2 to claim her third singles title of 2013 so far. The boys’ doubles champions – Charles Tzicas (BEL) & Ronetto van Tilburg (NED) – also faced off in the singles final. As you would expect from two players who know each other’s games well, the final was a hotly contested encounter, with the Belgian eventually winning 6-3 4-6 7-5 to claim his first ever Tennis Europe Junior Tour title.
The Category 3 Svilengrad Cup in Bulgaria saw Romania’s Stefan Palosi claim his first 14 & Under title. A winner of four 12 & Under events last year, Palosi ended the hopes of home player Kaloyan Dimitrov in the final with a 6-2 7-6(6) victory. There was an all-Bulgarian girls’ final, as Zinovia Vaneva beat Izabel Nikolaeva 6-2 7-5. The pair had earlier teamed up to win the doubles crown, while the boys’ doubles title went to Turkish-Romanian pair Berke Eser Coskun & Theodor Foia.
Dutch players were in charge at the Skovbakken Category 3 event in Aarhus (DEN). Judith van Kessel built upon her doubles win at last week’s event in Copenhagen by winning a second straight title with partner Annick Melgers, before going on to add the singles crown with a 6-4 6-4 win over Sweden’s Nicoline Moller Palmgren. The boys’ title went to unseeded Romar Beke who breezed through the event without conceding a set, including an impressive win over top seed Julian Mueller (GER) in the final. The doubles title went to home players Nikolaj Gulstorff & Alexander Schou.
The Cungu & Co Open in Ulcinj, Montenegro saw a double win for Ukrainian top seed Anatolii Rainin. He survived a marathon first set tie break before brushing past Serbia’s Kosta Petrov 7-6(10) 6-0 to win the singles title, and also teamed up with Russia’s Martin Kucheras to take the doubles. Top seed Anastasia Kulikova (RUS) extended her Tennis Europe Junior Tour singles win streak to 19 matches, claiming her fourth title of the season with a 6-3 6-3 win over Adela Joldic (BIH). Aleksandra Stepanova ensured that Russian girls’ claimed both trophies, teaming with Serbia’s Mia Mijatovic for the doubles title.
The week’s biggest event in terms of player numbers was the Pasha Bank Cup, a combined 14 and 16 & under event in Baku, Azerbaijan. Russian players once again excelled here, claiming six of the eight available titles. Georgia’s Nino Memishishi was one of the exceptions as she came through several three set matches to emerge as champion of the girls 14 & under event, finishing with a 6-4 6-2 win over third seed Sasha Zhulin. Savriyan Danilov of Russia beat Turkish qualifier Bekir Berk Sahin for the loss of just three games to take the boys 14 & under title. Another Turk, Cagatay Sami Soke, claimed the boys 16 & Under crown, ending the hopes of home favourite Aykhan Manafli 6-3 6-1, while the girls’ 16 & under final was an all-Russian battle won by unseeded Daria Nazarkina over Anna Makarova. All four doubles crowns went to Russian teams; Savriyan Danilov & Pavel Karpushkin and Varvara Gracheva & Ekaterina Shalimova won the 14 & Under events, while Sergey Lysov & Alexey Nesterov and Anna Makarova & Alisa Solovieva won the 16 & Unders.
16 & Under
Three other 16 & under events were also held, each at Category 3.
Local players did a great job in the girls’ events at the Zenica Open in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Playing in her first Tennis Europe Junior Tour event of the season, Jelena Djordan breezed through the draw to claim the title without losing a set, beating compatriot Lajla Colic in the final. Colic had earlier teamed up with another Bosnian player, Medina Sahinagic, to lift the doubles trophy. Although two Bosnians made it to the semifinals, the boys’ events had a more international feel. Unseeded Italian Giorgio de Rossi fought his way through to the final after upsetting top seed Bojan Jankulovski (MKD) in the first round, but Hungary’s Barnabas Koncz was too strong, winning 6-3 7-5 to claim his first 16 & Under title. The boys’ doubles went to Slovenian pair Amadej Goruen & Sven Lah.
At the Eleon Tennis Club event in Nicosia, Cyprus, second seeded Maria Stylianou (CYP) won her first 16 & Under title with a 6-4 6-2 win over Russian top seed Kristina Delyan. The boys’ final was an all-Greek battle with Christos Antonopoulos coming from behind to beat Vasileios Iliopoulos 4-6 6-2 6-2. Both doubles titles were won by home pairings in all-Cypriot finals. George Christodoulou & Constantinos Christoforou took the boys’ title while Anna Savchenko & Maria Stylianou won the girls’.
Home players totally dominated the Babolat Cup in Donetsk, Ukraine. Leonid Chechel upset top seed Vladyslav Chumak to win the singles and also teamed up with Artem Kasygin to take the doubles crown. Nataliya Vlasova just failed to repeat the trick; she teamed up with Viktoriya Dzyuba to win the doubles but was pipped to victory in the singles final by qualifier Kateryna Baranivska, who won her first Tour title.
12 & Under
Three 12 & Under events were also held, headlined by the 23rd edition of the Passagespoirs tournaments at le Passage d’Agen in France. Tom Leblanc Claverie added to his Azores Open title last month by claiming both the singles and doubles crowns. In the singles final he recovered from the loss of the first set to beat Belgium’s Gauthier Onclin 2-6 6-4 6-3, while he also teamed with French compatriot Arthur Bernabe to win his second doubles title of the season. The girls’ title went to Iga Swiatek (POL), who blasted past Ester Bataille for the loss of just one game. Czech pair Tereza Najmanova & Anna Siskova won the girls’ doubles, coincidentally also conceding just one game in the final match.
The 64-player GD Tennis Cup in Antalya, Turkey was won saw Ekaterina Makarova of Russia extend her winning ways. Arguably the most dominant 12 & Under player at the moment, she won her fifth singles and sixth doubles title of the season so far (not to forget her role on the winning Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD team) by beating Georgia’s Miriam Dalakishvili 6-3 6-0 in singles and teaming with Ekaterina Spirina in doubles. The boys’ doubles also went to a Russian team, with Rail Ibragimov & Nikita Naskidashvili winning in a match tie-break. In the boys’ singles, Sergiu Mancioc of Romania claimed his first Tour singles title with a 6-0 7-6(3) win over Sergey Fomin of Uzbekistan.
At the Luzhniki 2013 event in Moscow, Anastasia Potapova – the only player to beat the aforementioned Makarova so far this season – kept up her good results to claim a third singles and third doubles title of the season. She beat fellow Russian Taisya Pachkaleva in the three sets for the singles win, and teamed up with Sofia Epur to add the doubles. Danil Spasibo won his second consecutive title to take the boys’ event with a win over Timofey Skatov, who had earlier teamed up with Igor Trunov to claim the doubles crown.
This week is another busy one on the Tour, with 11 events in total, highlighted by the 20th PSS Piestany Cup, a Category 1 event in Slovakia. Full results from all Tennis Europe Junior Tour tournaments can be found on the calendar, with photo galleries here. You can also keep in touch with the latest news and results on the move, thanks to our mobile app.