Last week saw a flurry of activity on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, with no less than six events taking place simultaneously. The main event without doubt was the TIM Essonne 14 and Under category 1 tournament in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, just south of Paris. Qinwen Zheng took out the girls’ title, while victory in the boys’ event went home crowd favourite Lilian Marmousez.
Perhaps the biggest shock of the tournament came in the second round of the boys’ event. After a bye in the first round, number one ranked and seeded Ukrainian Oleksiy Shestakov was knocked out in the second round by local qualifier Quentin Kouvtanovitch. A boisterous local crowd can certainly help lift a player and this was the case here, as the French boy overcame his acclaimed opponent 6-7(2) 6-4 6-2. The joy was short-lived as his run immediately came to an end in the following round, losing to eventual finalist Latvian Alexander Georg Mandma 6-3 6-2.
The big upset was mirrored in the other half of the draw, with number two seed Dawid Taczala also coming up in the second round short. After his big win the previous week in Stockholm and having won a tight first set, he was also sent packing by a local qualifier, going down to Robin Catry 5-7 6-4 6-4. Again, the joy did not last long as Catry was ousted in the next round by Czech number 14 seed Vitek Horak, who in turn was sent home in the Quarter-Finals by the eventual winner Marmousez. The French lad had not lost a set en route to the final and he applied the pressure in the final against Mandma to maintain that record. Hailing from a town just north of Paris, the “local” support was an apt description if ever there was one, as the home crowd saw their boy ease to a 6-1 6-2 victory to claim his first Tennis Europe Junior Tour singles title.
The matches on the girls’ side were relatively straightforward, except for one notable exception. Unseeded local Diane Parry defeated the number one seeded Czech Denisa Hindova 3-6 6-3 6-0 in the second round. This amazing run would continue to thrill the home crowd all the way to final, where Parry eventually capitulated to Chinese number two seed 6-0 6-2 Qinwen Zheng. The Chinese thus becomes the first ever player from that nation to win the event, which is her fifth Tennis Europe Junior Tour 14 & Under title overall.
In the boys’ doubles Mandma made up for his loss in the singles final by teaming up with Swiss Jean Marc Malkowski to defeat Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune (DEN) and Oleksiy Shestakov (UKR) in the final, 4-6 6-3 10-5. Denisa Hindova exacted revenge over Diane Parry for her singles loss in the girls’ doubles final. Hindova teamed with Tereza Vajsjtlova to defeat Parry and Jade Bornay 6-2 6-2
There were two other 14 and Under events taking place this past week. The Category 2 Slovan Open in Bratislava, Slovakia was won by the number one seeds Russian Alibek Kachmazov and local Nina Stankovska in the boys’ and girls’ draws. The boys’ doubles went to Domink Buzonics & Piotr Pawlak, while Klara Novakova & Marketa Panackova won the girls’ doubles. The Category 3 Cup der Nordverbaende in Isernhagen in Germany saw victories go to local German players in all events except the boys’ doubles. In the boys’ events, Leon Formella was the singles champion while Brits Derrick Chen and Luka Petrovic won the doubles. Julia Middendorf won the girls’ singles as well as the doubles with Angelina Wirges.
Similarly, there were also two 16 and Under events taking place this past week; the Category 2 Realsport Open in Milovice in the Czech Republic and the Category 3 Pajulahti Cup in Nastola, Finland. At the Realsport Open, Romanian seventh seed Nini Gabriel Dica took out Italian fifth seed Nicolo Zampoli 6-2 3-6 6-4 in the final. Czech Kristyna Lavickova won the girls’ singles title by handily defeating Slovakian Tamara Malesevic 6-2 6-0. More Czech players, this time Jakub Beran & Jiri Lehecka won the boys’ doubles while Ukrainian top seeds Kateryna Diatlova & Viktoriya Petrenko were successful in the girls’ doubles. In Finland, Local Ron Rikkonen was victorious in the boys’ singles as was Estonian Carol Plakk in the girls’ singles. Plakk’s compatriots Carl Bret Parko & Johannes Seeman combined to earn themselves the boys’ doubles title, while Latvians Margarita Ignatjeva and Kristiana Linda Zahare.
A big week in junior tennis was capped off with a special event, the 14 & Under ITF/Tennis Europe Development Championships, which took place in Antalya, Turkey. This is a closed event, which invites players from ‘developing’ tennis nations, and gives them the opportunity to travel and play together. The boys’ event was won by Macedonian Gjorgji Jankulovski, while Maltese Francesca Curmi won the girls’ event. The doubles events were won by Belarus in both draws. The boys’ winners were Danila Kharkou and Mikhail Kniazeu, while Sofi Brich and Victoriya Kanapatskaya took home the girls’ trophy.
The Tennis Europe Junior Tour rolls on this week, with a second week of the Development Championships, plus five other events spread across three age categories and ranging from Portugal to Russia. Keep up with all the latest results here.