Italy beat hosts France to win the 16 & Under boys’ Borotra Cup for the first time since 1986, while Russia claimed the girls’ Helvetie Cup for the third time in four years.
Filippo Baldi put the Italians ahead with a 6-4 6-2 win over Quentin Halys in the first rubber of the boys’ final, played at Le Touquet.
The second match saw Gianluigi Quinzi - the world’s best 16 & Under player - take on Johan Sebastien Tatlot, runner-up at last week’s European Junior Championships in Moscow. The French #1 came out on top after a long battle, emerging with a 7-5 3-6 6-4 win to set up a deciding doubles match.
Three of the four singles players then returned to the court as Baldi & Quinzi took on Halys and Benjamin Bonzi, which the Italian pair took 6-4 7-6(3).
Quinzi was competing at the final rounds for a second consecutive year, and has now won European team competitions at two age groups (Under 12 and Under 16), as well as the 2010 European 14 & Under Championship title.
Russia, whose team stretched Italy to a deciding doubles in the semi-finals, beat Sweden 2-1 in the third place play-off match. Last year’s champions Great Britain were upset by Romania during the qualifying rounds.
At the girls’ finals in Leysin (SUI), Russia built an impressive run that saw them progress through the competition without the loss of a single match.
Russia opened their campaign at home in St. Petersburg, where they beat Estonia and Latvia 3-0 to win their qualifying group. Their good form continued at the finals, beating Romania 3-0 in their opening match before overcoming Germany by the same score.
On the other side of the draw, Latvia defied expectations by ending the reign of defending champions Italy in the semi-finals to reach the championship match for the first time in the history of the event.
The final was a repeat of the final match from their qualifying group, and the result was almost identical as the Russians dominated throughout. Alina Silich put them ahead with a 6-2 6-3 win over Darta-Elizabete Emulina. In the battle between the top players of each team Elizaveta Kulichova beat former Tennis Europe Junior Tour #1 Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 6-2 to clinch the tie.
The four players later returned to the court, with the Latvians claiming a consolation victory in the doubles. Meanwhile Italy beat Germany 2-1 to claim third place.
62 national teams took part in the 16 & Under European Summer Cups events, which are also considered as the European qualifying events for the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas competitions. With the finals due to be held in Barcelona at the end of September, hosts Spain automatically qualify, alongside the top four (boys) and five (girls) other European nations. The teams to advance to the finals are marked in red below:
Final Standings
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Boys |
Girls |
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|
|
|
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1 |
Italy |
Russia |
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2 |
France |
Latvia |
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3 |
Russia |
Italy |
|
4 |
Sweden |
Germany |
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5 |
Austria |
Belarus |
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6 |
Germany |
Czech Republic |
|
7 |
Romania |
Romania |
|
8 |
Spain |
Poland |
Junior Davis Cup 2012 from In The Garden on Vimeo.