The ITF/Tennis Europe 14 & Under Development Championships took place in Antalya, Turkey from 10 - 20 March. The event, which was hosted by the Turkish Tennis Federation, attracted players from 15 countries and was comprised of a one-day training camp followed by two consecutive Category 2 tournaments with a day off in between the two events.
Second seed Vitalia Stamat of Moldova dominated both girls’ events. After a tough match in the second round against Laura Tomic (BIH) 2-6 6-2 6-4, VItalia won with ease against Ana Shanidze (GEO) 6-1 6-2 and Miriam Dalakashvili (GEO) 6-3 6-1. In the second week her toughest opponent was top seeded Iveta Daujotaite (LTU). They met in the final, where Vitalia took the first set with 6-1 and was close to victory in the second set before Iveta found her game, fighting back to win the second set 5-7 before Vitalia eventually won the final set as decisively as the first, 6-1.
In boys event, unseeded Sergios Kyzas (CYP) reached the final of the first tournament without losing a set and pushed eventual winner Luka Andonov (MKD) to the limit, eventually losing in three sets 6-2 4-6 3-6. In the second tournament the third seeded Vanja Dobrnjac (BIH) posted an improved performance and met Kyzas in the final where he recovered from the loss of the first set to post a 2-6 6-3 6-1 win over the Cypriot.
While his singles performance was impressive, Kyzas managed to go one better in the doubles events, where he teamed up with his compatriot Stefanos Savva to claim both titles. In the first tournament they blasted past Luka Andonov & Gjorgji Jankulovski (MKD) 6-0 6-2. In the second week they added another title by winning a thrilling match against Roberts Jaricevskis & Karlis Ozolins (LAT) 7-6 3-6 [12-10].
In the final of the first girls’ doubles tournament Maltese-Latvian combination Kamila Bartone & Franceska Curmi won against Georgian pair Dalakishvili & Shanidze 6-4 6-3. Dalakishvili and Shanidze continued to improve in the second week, when they again reached the final, this time overcoming Sarioglan Zeynep & Betina Tokac (TUR) 6-3 6-2 to claim the title.
ITF/Tennis Europe Development Officer Hrvoje Zmajic was in attendance at the event, and commented; “Thanks to the ITF/Tennis Europe Development Programme, these Championships have once again helped players from a number of our smaller nations to compete against high quality opposition. The facilities here in Antalya are first class and with ten matches over ten days, all of the players and coaches have been able to make the most of the opportunity to work on their games and gain valuable international experience.”
The ITF/Tennis Europe Development Championships were first held in 1996 and were introduced to give leading players from developing tennis nations the opportunity to travel to and compete at back-to-back events against players of a similar standard. A number of today’s top professionals, including Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep and Grigor Dimitrov have benefitted from playing the event in the past.
Full draws and results from the tournaments can be found at the links to the right-hand side of this page.