Tennis Europe Junior Tour

Swiatek, Rybakina seek double gold glory

Swiatek, Rybakina seek double gold glory

Iga Swiatek will face top seed Taisya Pachkaleva of Russia in the girls’ singles gold medal match at the European 14 & Under Championships in Pilsen. The pair had contrasting semi-final matches on Saturday; Swiatek blasted past sixteenth seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto in straight sets, while Pachkaleva had to weather a fightback from home hope Ivana Sebestova, who claimed the second set before eventually capitulating in three.

The win was quick revenge for Swiatek, who lost to Cocciaretto for the first time just three weeks ago at the European Summer Cups. The Pole lost no time in asserting her authority on this occasion, conceding just two games to stretch her head to head lead over the Italian to 3/1.

There was further joy for Swiatek – and another defeat for Cocciaretto – in the doubles final, as Iga teamed with Maja Chwalinksa to claim the first Polish doubles gold in the girls’ event since 2002.

The two girls’ finalists have met just once previously on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, with Swiatek winning in straight sets at the 12 & under Riga Open in 2013.

The boy’s final will be a battle between Croatian eighth seed Duje Ajdukovic and Romania’s Filip Jianu (#4). Both were made to work hard in their semi-final matches - Ajdukovic finished first, and put paid to any hopes of three Polish gold medals, ending the run of fifth seed Wojciech Marek 7-6(3) 6-2.

In the second semi-final, Nicolas Alvarez Varona fought bravely to snatch a second set tie break, but Jianu recovered well from the disappointment, winning six of the last seven games against the recent Summer Cups winner to seal a 6-4 6-7(3) 6-1 victory; his first win over the Spaniard in three meetings.

Jianu and Ajdukovic have met just once before in a main draw match on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, but it was a thriller, with the Romanian edging to a 6-2 1-6 7-6(5) win at the Category 1 Rakovnik event just eight weeks ago.

The boys’ doubles final was a crowd pleaser, with eighth seeds Jiri Lehecka & Andrew Paulson claiming the gold medal with a decisive win over the top-seeded Russians Matvey Minin & Timofey Skatov. The Czechs won the first set to love but had to battle harder in the second before securing a 6-4 win.

16 & Under

Elena Rybakina had a good day at the 16 & Under Championships in Moscow, comfortably winning her all-Russian semi-final against Anastasia Gasanova and later securing the doubles gold medal alongside Olesya Pervushina. Gasanova could manage just three games in the singles match but the doubles final was more closely contested, with Shaline-Doreen Pipa & Carmen Shultheiss stretching their opponents to a first set tie-break before the Russians accelerated away, winning the decisive game 7 points to 0, and breaking early to claim the second set 6-3.

The win marked a second successive doubles gold for Pervushina, who also won the 14 & under title with Anastasia Potapova in Pilsen last year. Pervushina and Rybakina also played doubles on the victorious Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD team earlier this year.

In tomorrow’s singles final, Rybakina will face Czech Anna Slovakova, who won in equally convincing style, dropping just two games to seventh seed Nefisa Berberovic of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The match will be their first meeting on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.

Artem Dubrivnyy ensured that Russia will have a chance to go for two singles gold medals when he advanced to the final with a 7-5 6-3 win over Matteo Martineau of France. Dubrivnyy was unable to repeat Rybakina’s feat though, as he and Mikhail Sokolovskiy fell in the doubles final to Polish pair Konrad Fryze and Kacper Zuk. Fryze & Zuk thus become the first Polish boys to win the 16 & under since 2003.  

Dubrivnyy’s opponent on Sunday will be Patrik Rikl of the Czech Republic. The top seed was forced to work hard to book his place in the title decider and had to come from a set down before outlasting Germany’s Marvin Moeller 5-7 6-2 6-4. The two singles finalists have met just once before, with Rikl coming out on top at the 14 & Under Tim Essonne event two years ago.  

Results - 14 & Under

Boys Singles | Boys Doubles | Girls Singles | Girls Doubles | Order of Play | Photos

Results - 16 & Under

Boys Singles | Boys Doubles | Girls Singles | Girls Doubles | Order of Play | Photos

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