In a story of contrasts, the Slovakian boys and the Ukrainian girls have won this year’s 12&U Summer Cups by Dunlop. In the final chapter of this year’s European junior team competition, both teams have written history for very different reasons.
→ For the Slovakian boys this is the first ever win, and a debut appearance in the final, since the event began in 2007. On the other hand, it was Ukraine’s sixth final appearance and fourth win, adding to the titles the team won in 2015, 2009 and 2008.
→ Slovakia survived a couple of close encounters in their qualifying group round-robin matches with wins over Germany (2-1), Austria (3-0) and Great Britain (2-1) before a 3-0 win over second-placed Bosnia & Herzegovina in the play-off to secure a spot in the final.
→ In contrast, Ukraine breezed past round-robin rivals Netherlands, Spain, and Bosnia & Herzegovina without the loss of a match and repeated this with a 2-0 win over Poland in the play-off to clinch their spot in the final with a dominating performance at the qualifying rounds.
→ However, In the final rounds, it was another tale of opposing fates as the Slovakian boys sailed along undefeated in all their ties. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian girls emerged from a tight group in which they, Estonia and Slovakia all went 2-1 in terms of wins and losses.
Boys’ Final Rounds - Dijon, France
Slovakia’s Road to the title
Round Robin: d. Bulgaria 3-0 | d. Italy 2-1 | d. Switzerland 2-0
Final: d. France 3-0
With three wins in the bag, Slovakia came through as undisputed group winners. They didn’t have it all their own way, however, with the tie against Italy going to the wire in a live doubles match. In the final, after a nail-biting comeback in the first tie, it was business-like and methodical for the Slovaks who were unwilling to let France get a look-in, even in the dead doubles rubber, shutting out the two-time champions and 2021 finalists.
Final matches:
Matteo Sanson (SVK) def. Tristan Ducros 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4
Martin Adamca (SVK) def. Arthur Salafa 6-1 7-5
Adamca/Lubos Husenica def. Ducros/Imanol Gosset 3-5 4-1 10-5
Girls’ Final Rounds - Ajaccio, France
Ukraine’s Road to the title
Round Robin: lost to Slovakia 1-2 | d. Estonia 3-0 | d. Germany 2-1
Final: d. Croatia 2-1
As mentioned, it went down to the wire on the last day of the round-robin matches with three teams tied at 2 wins and 1 loss each. Estonia’s 0-3 loss to Ukraine hurt them, but their 2-1 win over Slovakia tipped the scales in favour of Ukraine who went through to face Croatia, who had advanced from a similarly tight Group B. In the final, the Ukrainians sealed the deal with two singles wins to put the tie out of the reach of their opponents. The Croats later salvaged some pride, comfortably winning the doubles rubber.
Final matches:
Anna Kuznetsova (UKR) def. Korana Barisic (CRO) 6-2 6-3
Mariia Kocherzhenko (UKR) def. Ana Marija Rebic (CRO) 6-4 6-4
Barisic & Anna Cerovic (CRO) def. Kocherzhenko & Kuznetsova 4-2 4-1
Final Standings
Boys:
- Slovakia
- France
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Italy
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Netherlands
Girls:
- Ukraine
- Croatia
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Estonia
- Czechia
- France
- Germany