The Tennis Europe Junior Masters finals are set after a long day of action in Reggio Calabria. Play was interrupted early in the first set of the 14 & Under semi-finals, which were being played simultaneously on four courts, as a heavy thunderstorm drenched the club and sent the players and spectators running for cover.
The break clearly came at a good time for Helene Pellicano, who had lost the first five games of her semi-final with Oana Corneanu of Romania. Despite losing the first game after the resumption, the Maltese #1 was able to fight back for a second consecutive day, eventually triumphing by the unlikely score of 0-6 6-3 6-2.
Pellicano’s final opponent will be Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who battled through a tough first set before overcoming Vitalia Stamat of Moldova 7-5 6-3. Kostyuk said she is looking forward to the match, given that she had lost their previous encounter; “We played at an ITF event about a month and a half ago. I lost 6-3 6-3 that time, but I wasn’t feeling good physically, so tomorrow I hope to play better.”
The 14 & Under boys’ final will be a battle between the top two-ranked players on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour this season, as Timofey Skatov of Russia takes on Romania’s Filip Jianu. Jianu ended the hopes of home player Giulio Zeppieri in straight sets, while Skatov battled past European Junior Champion Duje Ajdukovic of Croatia. The top seed expressed satisfaction with his game, saying “I was pleased with how I played; he is a tough opponent but I was able to play my game well.” Asked about his final opponent, Skatov commented, “We have played twice before and last time I won 6-2 6-3, so I hope to do the same tomorrow.”
The 16 & Under boys’ event saw two minor upsets. The top four seeds had advanced to the semi-finals, but on Saturday it would be the #3 and #4 players that advanced to face each other in the final. Last year’s runner-up in the 14 & Under event, Marko Miladinovic of Serbia emerged triumphant after a hard hitting battle with top seed Leonid Sheyngezikht of Bulgaria.
His opponent will be Robert Strombachs of Germany, who scored the quickest win of the day in ending the hopes of Italy’s Francesco Forti, conceding just three games in front of a large crown on centre court.
The 16 & Under girls’ final will see Spain take on Ukraine. Marina Bassols Ribera extended her Tennis Europe Junior Tour win/loss record in 2015 to 25/2 with a straight sets win over Russia’s Daria Frayman, who is ranked in the 14 & Under Top 10 but qualified for the 16 & Under event. “It was a difficult match,” said the Spanish second seed. “I started well, going up 5/1, but then she fought back. Then in the second set I was 0/3 down but came back. Now I’m ready for anything in the final; I’ll fight to the end to be able to win tomorrow!”
Bassols’ opponent will be third seed Viktoriia Dema, who dropped just four games – all in the first set – in a dominant display against top seed Daria Lukyanova of Russia.
Play gets under way tomorrow at 9:30, with several of the finals being streamed live. Join us at www.calabriatennis.it/video to follow the action.
Sunday Order of Play | Gallery