The numerous spectators were treated to two high quality title matches on Sunday at the European 18 & Under Championships in Klosters, with Kaja Juvan and Zsombor Piros triumphing to take the Gold medals. The Slovenian beat Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine 6-3 1-6 6-4 to win the girls’ title, while the Australian Open champion from Hungary won a battle of extremely skilled players against top seed Corentin Moutet 64 75.
In the girls’ final a change of the outcome was looming when Kostyuk fought back with her never-say-die attitude to recover from 2-5 to 4-5 in the final set. But Juvan held her nerve, sticking to a simple strategy: “I only focused on the next point.” She becomes the second titlist from Slovenia after Nastia Kolar, who took the crown in 2011.
Despite her disappointment, Kostyuk could leave Klosters happy, as she had won the gold on Saturday in the doubles alongside Viktoriia Dema. Later, the Ukraine anthem was played for a second time for the winner of the nations trophy.
The boys’ final matched the quality of the girls’ game. Piros once again displayed his complete and smart all-round game and Moutet his tremendously fast hands. However, as in last year’s final, he had trouble keeping his cool as things weren’t going smoothly. But the young French star fought to the end, saving three match points at 4-5, before eventually having to congratulate his opponent two games later. “I wasn’t patient enough”, he later conceded.
Piros was enormously happy: “It is a very big win for me.” He is the first Hungarian ever to win the crown in the 18 & Under category. Also tournament director Hans Markutt was really happy satisfied with the event, saying, “I am already looking forward to next year”.