The German boys and the British girls have won the 2024 edition of the 16&U European junior team competition. It has been a long time coming for the Brits, who have now scored their first-ever triumph in this event, having come so close last year as runners-up as well as on one other occasion back in 2008. Meanwhile, the German boys have picked up their fourth title.
Highlights
→ In what was a mouth-watering prospect from the instant the draws were released, current 16&U Race leader Gonçalo da Rosa Castro (POR) faced last year’s 14&U Player of the Year and Junior Masters champion Daniel Jade (FRA) in the semis. In a riveting joust for Junior tennis fans, it was the older player who helped Portugal to a 3-0 win over the hosts, posting a 6-1 5-7 7-5 win over the Lebanese-born French player.
→ More disappointment for Team France, as the second seeded girls’ team were defeated by Czechia in the first tie of the final rounds. Recently naturalized French player Ksenia Efremova won her singles match against Sofie Hettlerova, but the Czechs came back strongly to win the remaining singles and doubles rubbers.
→ The Czech girls’ team was upended by Romania in the semifinals, thus preventing them from reaching a fifth straight final and ending their hopes of a fourth straight win.
→ Social media was abuzz over the last 3 days, with a special mention going to the boys' hosts at Le Touquet Club. Daily photos, videos and reels abounded, truly capturing the essence of the Junior Davis Cup qualifying event:
Boys’ Finals: Borotra Cup - Le Touquet, France
Germany’s Road to the final:
Qualifying Rounds: def Estonia 3-0; def Netherlands 3-0; def Portugal 3-0
Final Rounds: QF def Romania 2-1; SF def Poland 3-0
The Final: Germany def Portugal 3-0
Niels McDonald def Salvador Monteiro 6-2 6-3
Diego Dedura-Palomero def Gonçalo da Rosa Castro 6-1 6-1
Oliver Majdandzic & Niels McDonald def Rodrigo Leal & Salvador Monteiro 5-3 4-0
- Including the qualifying rounds, the Germans lost only one match in the entire event: the dead doubles rubber against Romania in the QF of the final rounds
- It was the first meeting between Dedura-Palomero and Castro; McDonald extended his head-to-head record over Monterio to 4-0
- The results in the final saw the exact same scoreline as when the two teams faced off in the final match of the qualifying rounds: two singles wins, a doubles win without the loss of a single set for Germany. This time, however, the Portuguese had switched out Castro from the doubles in favour of Monteiro to accompany Leal
Girls’ Finals - Marianske Lazne, Czechia
Great Britain’s road to the final:
Qualifying Rounds: def Denmark 3-0; def Austria 2-1; def Czechia 2-0
Final Rounds: QF def Spain 3-0; SF def Germany 2-1
The Final: Great Britain def Romania 2-0
Mika Stojsavljevic def Giulia Safina Popa 6-1 6-0
Hannah Klugman def Maia Ilinca Burcescu 6-4 6-2
- Coincidentally, Klugman lost her singles in last year’s final to Laura Samson (CZE) by the same scoreline, but turned it around this year against Burcescu
- Stojsavljevic was undefeated in the qualifying rounds and only lost one singles match in the final rounds: a tough three-setter to Mariella Thamm of Germany in the semis
- The Brits exacted a degree of revenge over their conquerors from last year’s final, Czechia, by gaining a win over them in the final of the qualifying rounds
Junior Davis Cup & Junior Billie Jean King Cup Finals
The Top five 16 & Under teams at the final rounds (plus hosts Türkiye) qualify to compete at the Junior Davis Cup (Boys) & Junior Billie Jean King Cup (Girls) finals in Antalya from 11-17 November at the Megasary Tennis Academy.
Here are the final standings, with the qualified nations in Bold:
Boys:
- Germany
- Portugal
- France
- Poland
- Romania
- Czechia
- Slovenia
- Spain
Girls:
- Great Britain
- Romania
- Czechia
- Germany
- Italy
- Sweden
- Spain
- France
For complete results, photos and more click here.