It was a great day for the Brits in the finals of the Lexus Junior International, as Eric Lorimer and Megan Knight were crowned champions in London. Played at the new All-England Lawn Tennis Club venue, a stone’s throw from SW19, Lorimer and Knight have secured themselves a spot at the Wimbledon 14&U invitational tournament by virtue of their wins in Raynes Park.
Lorimer came into the Junior Tour’s premier grass court event as the top seed and hot favourite for the title off the back of wins in Maia (Super Category) and Piestany (Category 1) and progressed unperturbed to the final without the loss of a set. He was pushed to a first set tiebreaker against last week’s Avvenire winner Stan Put (NED) in the quarterfinal, and posted a straightforward win over Stockholm champion Andrei Radu (ROU) in the semis. In the final, the #1 ranked player faced his compatriot Niall Pickerd-Barua in a repeat of the recent Piestany decider, which yielded the same result for Lorimer.
“Today the finals were played in very tough conditions with a late start and fierce winds. Niall has been playing extremely good tennis on the grass winning the latest national tournament a few weeks ago and it was a mental and physical battle today, but I think I dealt with it better than he did and that’s why I got the win,” he said.
Lorimer’s 6-4 6-3 victory over his fellow Brit earns both players even more points as the two further entrench themselves at the top of the Race to Monte-Carlo rankings. “The Junior Masters is a prestigious event, and I am pushing hard to try and compete there and definitely have my sights set on it,” claims Lorimer.
Furthermore, the champ was impressed with the new AELTC facilities for the #TEJT event, “it is an amazing centre. There aren’t many places like it and this tournament means the most to me. Competing and putting my game out there and winning on home soil on the grass is a dream of mine and I’m extremely excited for the upcoming Wimbledon 14&U event.”
As is Megan Knight, the seventh seed, who edged out Daniella Britton in another all-British final. Basking in her 6-4 7-5 final win, the young player has come a long way since ending 2023 with the runner-up trophy at the 12&U Festival. Seven months after that pivotal result, Knight is now relishing the opportunity to compete at the All-England Club, remarking that it will be “a great experience to be able to play at such an amazing place. I am really looking forward to it!”
Knight’s road to the final was somewhat more arduous than Lorimer’s. She scored a tough three-set win over Sakino Miyazawa (JPN) in round 2 before taking out fourth seed Viktoria Novakova (SVK) in the semis in two tight sets; and her first TEJT meeting against Britton, the third seed, in the final was by no means a cakewalk.
“The tournament venue had really good courts and they played very well. I had tough matches throughout the week and played some really good opponents, so I had to play at a high level to win.” Looking at the calendar for late October, Knight also has a goal in mind: “It would be great to play at the Junior Masters in Monte-Carlo.”
In the girls’ doubles final, Miyazawa & Clarice Ouvarova (GBR) scored a 3-6 6-1 10-2 win over Nora Olivia Adamson (EST) & Britton. Meanwhile in the boys’ doubles, it was more glory for Team GB, with the trophy going to Pickerd-Barua & Isaac Sallu as their opponents Stan Put & Patrick Breen (IRL) were unable to take park in the final.
All in all it was an extremely successful event, smoothly run by the organizers at the AELTC. In addition to the live scoring throughout the week, players had a wonderful array of meals on offer, amazing warm-up/training facilities and plenty of time for practice on the grass courts alongside pro players preparing for Wimbledon. Grigor Dimitrov and Aryna Sabalenka were among those using the facilities to hone their games during the week. In line with Tennis Europe’s sustainability strategy, players were given reusable water bottles in their welcome packs which could be refilled at the water fountains, thus eliminating single-use plastics at this event.
Elsewhere on the Junior Tour this week
It was another busy week on the Tour as summer kicks into gear, with 18 events held across the continent.
At the Cat. 2 14 & Under Aleksandr Tsaturyan Memorial Cup in Yerevan (ARM), Evgenii Kafelnikov picked up a 6th TEJT title, and first of 2014. The girls’ event was won by Ecrin Lal Yavuz of Türkiye.
There was disappointment for home players on the last day of the Cat.2 Goran Tanovic Memorial in Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Top seed Zana Kunosic lost to Japan’s Miyu Iwasa 6-4 6-0 in the girls’ final, while Lucas Alexandru Milos (ROU) dropped one less game to Mahir Butkovic in the boys’ final.
Canada’s Isabella Ruyu Yan claimed her first Tour singles title at the Bohemia Cafex Cup in Rakovnik (CZE), beating home player Katerina Foldova 1-6 6-4 6-4 in the final. The boys’ final was an all-Czech affair, with 4th seed Tommy Luxa beating #2 Tobias Zapsky 6-3 6-1.
For full results from all events this week, check here.