The inaugural European Senior Championships took place at TC Dema in Sofia, Bulgaria, during the week of 2-8 July. Open exclusively to European players, the event caters to 21 age categories for men and women, as well as holding doubles and mixed doubles competitions. A part of the ITF Senior Circuit, the B1 status event is set to become Europe’s most prestigious tournament.
The men’s tournament saw a variety of new names making an impact alongside some of the more recognisable faces from the European senior circuit. The Men’s 35s event went to 2010 World Champion Thassilo Haun of Germany, who recorded a comfortable win over Ovidiu Teci of Romania in the final. Latvia’s Egils Valeinis recorded his first tournament win from three finals on the ITF Senior Circuit this season, beating Yuri Doychev (the only home player to reach a final), 7-5 6-4 for the Over 40s crown. Finland’s Alec Arho-Havren fought back from the loss of the first set to outlast top seeded Russian Alexey Karpenko and claim the Over 45s title. Karl Pansy of Austria battled through some extremely tough matches in the latter rounds to secure his third title of the season against Greece’s Konstantinos Effraimoglou. There was more success for Finland in the Men’s 55s as Joakim Berner survived a 0-6 whitewash in the first set before beating Gaetano Longo (ITA) 6-1 6-2 for the title. In a battle between the top two seeds, France’s Bruno Renoult improved his win/loss record this year to 24/1, edging Alfred Boeckl (GER) to take the 60s title. Meanwhile Peter Adrigan (GER) secured his sixth title of 2012 in the 65s event with a straightforward win over Russian Valentin Raus. Peter Nader of Austria overcame the loss of the second set to beat Zoltan Fabian for the 70s crown, while Sven Pewe triumphed in an all-Swedish round robin tournament for Over 80s.
The women’s events were played in a round-robin format, and produced a number of first-time European Champions. Maria Bergenheim of Estonia dominated her matches to take the 35s title, while Lucie Schwab-Zelinka of Austria just shaded world #1 Jurate Hardy (LTU) to win the 40s. Ireland’s Lesley O’Halloran was in firm control of the 45s group, as was Liselot Prechtel-Koot (NED) in the 50s. Irina Klimova (RUS) took the 55s title, while Czech wild card Radomila Martincova conceded just three games in securing the 60s trophy. There were German wins in the two most senior categories, with Gudula Eisemann taking the 65s event and Nanda Fischer losing just four games in four matches to win the 70s.
Draws and Results
Men's singles | Men's Doubles
Women's singles | Women's Doubles
Mixed Doubles | Photos