Many of the top Tennis Europe Junior Tour players were in action last week at one of the three 14 & Under and one 16 & Under events being held.
The biggest event of the week was the Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris in Stockholm, Sweden’s first ever Category 1 14 & Under tournament, where fans were able to follow the action throughout the week via live internet streaming.
The boys’ final was between two of the most in-form players on the circuit so far this season and saw Switzerland’s Marko Osmakcic continue an impressive run, winning his third title of the year with a 6-3 6-1 victory over home hope Mikael Yemer. Osmakcic takes his win/loss record for the year to 18-2 and has the distinction of having won events at Category 1, 2 and 3 levels in the last eight weeks. Both finalists can expect to climb to the upper reaches of the top ten when the new rankings are released tomorrow.
Osmakcic also came out on top in the doubles, teaming with compatriot Cedric Rudolph to claim their second title together this year, thanks to a see-saw 7-6(4) 2-6 (10-1) win over Dylan Bednarczyk (CAN) & Timur Igamberdyev (RUS).
The girls’ title went to European #2 Olga Fridman. The Ukrainian secured her biggest title so far with a 6-1 6-2 win over fifth seed Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) and can expect to return to the top of the rankings as a result.
It was third time lucky for Anastasia Detiuc of Moldova, who claimed her first doubles title after losing in two previous finals. She teamed up with Fanny Stollar (HUN) to beat top seeds Simone Alipieva (DEN) & Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) 6-3 6-3.
With more than 1,000 spectators on site each day, the FOCUS Tennis Academy in Bleiswijk, Netherlands, had a successful first edition of their Category 3 Tennis Europe Junior Tour event. Gallery.
Former ATP professional Raemon Sluiter was on hand to present the prizes to the champions and saw an all-German boys’ final in which top seed Louis Wessels made his debut as a Tennis Europe Junior Tour singles winner, beating Daniel Altmaier 6-4 7-6(1) [pictured].
Anastasia Mikheeva of Great Britain breezed through the girls’ draw to secure her second 14 & Under title. Her final victory came against Russian Valeriya Zeleva 6-2 6-2, a fourth consecutive straight sets win of the week.
Both doubles titles went to home teams. Tom Floris Moonen & Bart Stevens beat Siem Fenne & Ruben Konings in an all-Dutch boys final, while Dewi Dijkman & Kimberley van Rijn upset fourth seeds Elena Belenova (RUS) & Nika Shytkouskaya (BLR) to take the girls’ title.
The Category 3 Togliatti Cup in Russia was totally dominated by home players. Elizaveta Buss won both girls’ events, outlasting Ekaterina Kunina 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2 for the singles crown before returning to the court with partner Tatiana Nikolaeva to take the doubles over Milana Gasymova & Darina Leonenko.
Unseeded Sergey Lysov had a fine week to win the boy’s event, including wins over the top two seeds. His final opponent, Alexander Ovcharov, fought back from the loss of the first set to level the match, but Lysov responded in style to win 6-3 2-6 6-0 and claim his first ever Tennis Europe Junior Tour title in just his third appearance in a main draw.
Ovcharov had better luck in the doubles, teaming with Nikita Orlov to beat Pavel Kotov & Ilya Strukov for the title.
The only 16 & Under event of the week was the Category 3 Falkonet Cup in Tallinn, Estonia, where local players made the most of the home advantage to come out on top in both singles competitions. 14 & Under #1 Kenneth Raisma stamped his authority on the boys’ draw to take a first 16 & Under title at the expense of Italy’s Edoardo Lamberti 6-2 7-5. Raisma had also been top seed in the doubles alongside compatriot Christopher Robin Klettenberg, but the pair suffered a shock 3-6 6-2 11-9 defeat in the quarterfinals to Elvio di Cosmo (ITA) & Christopher Reynolds (GBR), who went on take the title with a final win over another Estonian pair, Alan Braschinsky & Karl Kiur Saar, 6-2 6-2.
The girls’ final saw a battle between the top two seeds, with Erika Hendsel holding off Greta Kerezaite (LTU) 6-3 7-6(1) to record her fourth Tennis Europe Junior Tour win of the last 12 months. A day earlier, the pair had teamed up to win the doubles when Veronica Miroshnichenko (UKR) & Polina Novikova (RUS) had been forced to withdraw.
This week sees the Category 1 Tim Essone 14 & Under event in France, plus 16 & under tournaments in Czech Republic and Finland. Keep up with all the latest results here.