As the world’s best 14 and Under players descended upon Tarbes for the 2016 Petits As Mondial Lacoste, there was plenty of expectation in the air. With live online broadcasts, as well as coverage in the press and on 5 French broadcasters, the 40,000 spectators got a glimpse at some of the 350 potential future stars from 45 nations over 10 days. Pre-tournament buzz centred around French national champion, Harold Mayot and Czech number one seed Dalibor Svrcina, while the focus on the girl’s side was on last year’s Tennis Europe Junior Masters runner-up, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
The initial stages of the boys’ tournament progressed as expected, with some minor results going off-script. The first big upset, much to the joy of the local French crowd, was when Mayot ousted top seed Svrcina in the quarter finals. The match certainly lived up to the hype, with the players sharing the first two sets by the same 6-2 scoreline. The players were inseparable in the decider holding serve throughout until, fittingly, it came down to a nail-biting tie-break. Svrcina served a double-fault at 5-5, giving Mayot the chance to serve it out at 6-5, which he did as Svrcina netted a forehand. The joy of the locals was short-lived however, with Mayot in turn getting knocked out in three sets in the semi-finals by the eventual champion, eighth-seeded American Stefan Leustian. Leustian’s victim in the final was Croatian Borna Devald, who had also made it through after his own third set tie-break win in the semi against Polish second seed Dawid Taczala. With a fantastic run to the final in the category one event in Bolton last week (losing to Mayot) and currently training at the Mouratoglou Academy, Devald looks to be one of the main contenders for glory throughout the coming season on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.
Marta Kostyuk came in to the tournament as the Girls 14 and Under Orange Bowl champion, and although she was the number three seed, all the chatter centred around the Ukranian before the event took place. After losing a set in the second round, she got progressively tougher, giving away fewer and fewer games as the tournament went on. This run of form culminated in the final, where she saw off Czech Denisa Hindova 6-2 6-1, who had earlier taken care of Kostyuk’s compatriot and number one seed Daria Snigur in the quarter finals. With four girls in the main draw, the future looks bright for Ukrainian tennis, and champion Kostyuk proclaimed after her win that she was ready to “make it into the history books for my country.”
Kostyuk earned herself another trophy in the girls’ doubles. Teaming up with Latvia’s Kamilla Bartone, the number one seeds easily dispatched British pair Holly Fisher and Emma Raducanu 6-2 6-1 in a straightforward 51-minute final. Meanwhile, in the boys’ doubles, the story couldn’t be more different. The eventual champions were not even seeded, but Italian pair Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Rottoli made it through to the final without dropping a set after causing a series of upsets. Playing with confidence, they even managed a ‘double bagel’ win over visiting Americans Nicholas Garcia & Zane Khan en route. ‘The Lorenzos’ capped off an amazing run in a convincing final, beating top seeds Viktor Jovic (SRB) & Dawid Taczala (POL) with a 6-3 6-2 win.
To cap off a week full of fantastic tennis and as a prelude to the singles finals, Sunday also saw the finals of the wheelchair events. Spain’s Martin De La Puente worked wonders as he swept aside American Chris Herman 6-1 6-1 in the boys final, while Russia’s Viktoria Lvova defeated Britain’s Luz-Esperanza Merry 7-6 6-3.
The past weekend also saw the qualifying rounds of the 12 & Under Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD played. Full results can be found here. Europe's top 14 and 16 & Under players enter the stage next weekend, as their qualifying competition begins.