Top seeded German Viktorija Cesonyte and Korea’s Dongjae Kim have been crowned champions at the 14&U Super Category tournament in Dueren (GER).
Cesonyte was playing in her second Super Category final of the year, falling to Race Leader Jana Kovackova in the Maia final in April. Fast forward four months and she won the title, made even sweeter by doing so on home soil. The Korean adds to his Category 3 title won in the Loire Valley (FRA) last week.
Thursday was a washout and that may have thrown some off their game, with quarterfinals and semifinals having to be played on Friday. Those who best handled doubling-up made it to the final, although Mario Vukovic was handed a slice of luck on Friday with the quarterfinal retirement of his Australian opponent Ethan Domingo. Vukovic followed that up with a 6-3 6-0 dismissal of Lucas Alexandrou Milos (ROU), who had previously taken out top seed Scott Watson while Kim saw off Brazilian Livas Eduardo De Carvalho Damazio in a straight-sets semi. In the final Kim, despite a second set lapse, was too strong for the French wildcard entrant and last year’s 12&U Festival champ, taking the final 6-3 0-6 6-4.
Top seed and ITF/Tennis Europe 14&U Touring Team member Cesonyte had to work for her trophy. She had two tough three-setters during the week, including her QF win over Darina Matvejeva (LAT). Her opponent in the final, Anastasiia Nikolaieva (UKR) had a semifinal win over Aleksandra Zaplawa (POL), who had previously seen off second seed and Race #2 Laura Chlumska (CZE) in the quarters. In the decider, it was Cesonyte who overpowered her Ukrainian counterpart and took the title with a 7-6(1) 6-3 win. Cesonyte also won a second trophy in Dueren, as a runner-up in the doubles.
Living up to its official name “Internationale Deutsche Tennismeisterschaften U14”, the event saw the draws littered with a broad mix of players who had come from as far afield as Oceania, Asia and the Americas, including players from the visiting COSAT touring team, who we recently chatted to Annecy:
It was a busy week in Dueren, between the rain as well as a visit from Grand Slam champ and former world number 3 Dominic Thiem, there were plenty of off-court activities put on for the players, not least of which was a session of the Tennis Europe Junior School which took place on Wednesday evening. Rounding out the events were the winners of the doubles:
Boys’ doubles champions: Richard Krizan (SVK) & Johann Nagel-Heyer (GER)
Girls’ doubles champions: Paweenon Nualsri (THA) & Sijia Zhang (CHN)
🖼️ Photo Gallery from Düren.
Elsewhere on the Junior Tour this week:
➡️ Vilnius, Lithuania:
With the support of Vilnius City Council, this event set in the lush gardens in the heart of the city saw Boyan Ilchev (GBR) and Elizabete Ozola (LAT) win their maiden TEJT singles titles.
➡️ Buzau, Romania:
Boys’ top seed Darius Dorin and girls #2 Irina Cretan flew the home flag to take the Category 2 14 & Under titles in Buzau, another event to host an on-site Junior School session for players earlier in the week.
➡️ Barcelona, Spain:
Daniel Stoyanov (BUL) won his first Category 1 of the year, putting him in contention for a coveted spot at the Carlos Moyá 12&U Festival in November. Kira Mikaelian won the girls’ title.
➡️ Podgorica, Montenegro:
Daniil Valter won his second singles title of the year, at the 14&U Category 2 Eminent Open. Elizaveta Nalesnik was the girls’ champ, claiming her third tour title of 2024.
➡️ Augsburg, Germany:
In the combined age group Category 2 Junior Bavarian Open, home players won both the boys’ 14 and 16 and under events, with the trophies going to Laurenzo Rauner and Vincent Jakob Reisach respectively. Ekaterina Dotsenko was the girls’ 14&U winner, while the 16&U title went to Pauline Ma of Australia.
To see full results from this week's events, click here.
European Summer Cups
Also taking place last week were the qualifying rounds of the international team competition, the 16 and 18 & Under Summer Cups. The final rounds get underway tomorrow (5-7 August), and you can keep up with all the latest draws, results and images here.