Italy and Russia have successfully defended their 12 & Under Tennis Europe Nations Challenge by HEAD titles after a long weekend of high quality matches at the final rounds of the European team event.
At the boys finals in Alanya (TUR), Italy became the first team to seal a title when both boys won their singles matches against Serbia to ease to an unassailable 2/0 lead. The opening match saw Uros Jovic of Serbia start well, clinching the first set against Lorenzo Musetti on a tie-break. The Italian came back strongly though, showing the form that won him the title in Padova recently to claim the next sets 6-2 6-3 and put the defending champions ahead.
Italian #1 Fausto Tabacco has become accustomed to winning in recent weeks, taking singles titles in Maglie and Porto san Giorgio in addition to three doubles titles this season, and made short work of Viktor Jovic in the second singles match, winning 6-4 6-2.
Tabacco was then joined by Lorenzo Rottoli to complete a 3-0 sweep when the pair conceded just two games to Jovic and Goran Zivotic in the doubles rubber.
The one-sided final tie was in contrast to the earlier matches of the two teams, with Italy having had to come from a match down to beat Romania and Czech Republic, while Serbia were also taken the full distance by Switzerland and Spain.
The girls’ finals in Ajaccio (FRA) saw a battle between Russia and Ukraine, who between them had combined to win all but one of the previous editions of the tournament. Both teams emerged unbeaten from their round-robin groups, with Ukraine sailing past Turkey, Czech Republic and Netherlands for the loss of just one set, while Russia conceded just two more sets in beating Poland, Great Britain and Belgium.
The two nations have met often in recent weeks in major junior events, with Russia coming out on top earlier this week in the final of the 14 & Under World Junior Tennis event, as well in the singles and doubles finals at the 14 & Under European Junior Championships.
Sadly for Ukraine, any hopes of turning the tables on those defeats were short-lived. Russia’s Daria Frayman has won three 12 & Under titles already on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour this season and used her experience to overcome a second set fight back from occasional doubles partner Daria Snigur to claim a 6-2 4-6 6-1 win.
Maria Novikova then extended her impressive Tour win streak to 19 matches with a 6-0 7-5 win over Marta Kostyuk to complete her team’s title defence before Kostyuk and partner Dasha Lopatetskaya were able to claim a consolation point in the doubles with a 6-2 6-2 win over Frayman and Alina Chareva.
The bronze medal play-off matches saw Czech Republic beat Spain 2/1 in the boys’ competition and Turkey beat Poland 2/0 in the girls’.
In all, a total of 62 national teams took part in the 2014 event. The victories are the third for Italy’s boys and fifth for Russia’s girls in the 8-year history of the competition.
Draws and Results
Boys' Finals - Alanya (TUR) | Group A Draw | Group B Draw | Play-Offs | Photos
Girls' Finals - Ajaccio (FRA) | Group A Draw | Group B Draw | Play-Offs | Photos
Final Standings
Boys
1. Italy
2. Serbia
3. Czech Republic
4. Spain
5. Russia
6. Switzerland
7. Romania
8. Belgium
Girls
1. Russia
2. Ukraine
3. Turkey
4. Poland
5. Great Britain
6. Czech Republic
7. Belgium
8. Netherlands