With just five tournaments taking place this week it was crunch time on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, as this was the last week counting towards the Race to Monte-Carlo. Two Category One events were held, offering plenty of points to the winners.
WORLD TEC CUP | 14&U Cat.1, Barcelona (ESP)
Prior to the kickoff, the tournament had already set a record for the highest number of registrations for a Category One tournament this year. Last weekend saw the qualifying take place as well as the Junior School session on Monday featuring various topics and a Q&A session with former Roland-Garros champion Albert Costa.
This tournament saw some surprises with the top seed, Andrei Radu (ROU) defeated in the first round and the second seed Izan Bañares (ESP) taken out in round three. The girls’ top seed, Sofie Mottlová (CZE) made it to the quarterfinals as did the number two seed Daniel Baranes (ISR), who was taken out by the eventual runner-up.
In the end, the tournament went the way of the in-form Russian players. Nikita Berdin won his final 6-2 7-5 against Toni Escarda (ESP) whose ankle sprain late in the second set halted his potential comeback, while Wildcard Arina Fomina was too strong for Elizaveta Anikina (EST) taking the title 6-3 6-3.
The event saw a flurry of social media activity throughout the week and plenty of action taking place on the hard courts of Barcelona. Furthermore, Tennis Europe staff were accompanied by the Vice President of the Spanish Tennis Federation, Jordi Tamayo, on a tour of the new venue currently being constructed which will be ready in time for next year’s tournament. The club is nestled among the green hills of the Barcelona outskirts, with a strong focus on sustainability, water recycling and renewable energy.
2nd Alibaba Cup | 16&U Cat.1, Humenne (SVK)
Selena Romero (ESP) solidified her spot in the Race to Monte-Carlo with a 6-2 6-4 win over Darina Matvejeva (LAT), playing in her second 16&U final, having already won the Category 2 even in Waiblingen. It was Romero’s fourth title of the season, and first outside of Spain. Serb Marko Savija won the boys’ title over Nand Vandepoele (BEL) 4-6 6-3 6-4 for his second singles title of 2024.
More from the TEJT:
→ Eva Kozlova won 14&U Cat.2 title in Mugla, Turkiye for a third title of the season (see below).
→ Adam Napari (FIN) and Rose Thach (FRA) won the 12&U Category 1 event in Bressuire, France. It was a a second Cat.1 win for the Finn and a first for the French girl, with both players hoping to qualify for the Carlos Moyà 12&U Festival in November.
→ As this is the last week counting towards Race to Monte-Carlo points, a preview of the 2024 Tennis Europe Junior Masters will be published in the coming days. Watch this space.
For a full results from this week, click here.