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Tennis Europe Academy Training Camp
At the Tennis Europe Academy in TK Prostejov, Czechia, the clay court season is on the horizon, and 20 promising players from 8 European countries are gearing up for the challenge.
Led by the experienced guidance of experienced Czech coaches: Jaroslav Navratil, who served as captain of the Czech Davis Cup team for 25 years, winning 2 titles, and formerly coached Tomas Berdych, a top 5 ATP player; and David Kotyza, coach of Linda Noskova and former coach of Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova, and Karolina Pliskova. Alongside their esteemed coaching team, this year’s diverse group comprises 12 girls and 8 boys aged between 12 and 14.
Throughout this intensive week-long training camp lasting from April 29th until May 3rd, participants engage in a comprehensive program consisting of daily tennis drills and fitness sessions aimed at improving their skills and stamina. Established in 2018 through a collaboration between Tennis Europe, the Czech Tennis Association, and TK Prostejov, this camp is a testament to fostering excellence in tennis development.
Fully covered by the ITF European Assistance budget, the camp covers all essential expenses for the players, including accommodation, meals, and training facilities. Representing a mix of Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 member nations, these young athletes are selected by their respective national tennis federations for their exceptional talent and potential.
Players:
Patrick Breen (IRL)
Alicia Sutton (IRL)
Damyan Avramovski (BUL)
Raya Markova (BUL)
Gustav Brizs (LAT)
Elizabete Ozola (LAT)
Marina Markina (LAT)
Ofir Kermish (ISR)
Hila Sol Buhadana (ISR)
Daniel Blustein (ISR)
Mattis Thorsen (NOR)
Margrete Berg (NOR)
Oleksandr Tiutchenko (UKR)
Daria Bilyk (UKR)
Polina Skliar (UKR)
Mark Pavcic (SLO)
Sara Kovacevic (SLO)
Mark Vainberg (MDA)
Vasilisa Zarecinaia (MDA)
Anastasia Ciuhrii (MDA)
Future Stars Shine in Athens
The IMG Future Stars event at the Tatoï Club in Athens, Greece was back for its third edition. Many of the world’s top 12&U players were invited to play at this exclusive venue, an experience encompassing a smorgasbord of events and activities beyond the tennis tournament.
Estonia’s Elizaveta Anikina, of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, was the girls’ finalist falling to Ketong Guo (CHN) in the final in three tough sets, with the Chinese player taking the title 6-4 4-6 6-4. Congratulations are also in order for another Mouratoglou player Yanru Li (CHN) who won the boys’ title by defeating Daniel Gardality (USA) 6-1 6-4 in the final.
Many other European players fared well, with Simona Novakova (SVK), Korana Barisic (CRO), Jonas Waelti (SUI) and Vakhlin Arkadii all making the semifinals. As it was an invitational event and not officially a Junior Tour event, no points are awarded on the Tennis Europe rankings. It is encouraging nonetheless to witness European youngsters performing at such a high level at an international event of this calibre.
The 2024 edition of the event has now come to another successful end and Tennis Europe was on site this week to provide a first taste of the Junior School to many of the world's best 12 & Under players that were in attendance. Tennis Europe’s new Coaching video was discussed as well as the topics of Parents and The Tennis Family.
Also on hand at the start of the event were Holger Rune and Francisco Cerundolo who fielded questions from the young players in a press conference. Rune then delighted fans by playing an exhibition against some local talents and stuck around to sign plenty of autographs for the children.
Players were also treated to various activities including a workshop with Patrick Mouratoglou and Mike James; a WTA/ATP Tour day; an off-court masterclass with Sven Groeneveld and the Head of IMG Tennis Max Eisenbud; and a workshop on the important topic of Mental Health. The participants were also spoiled for entertainment: the Greek night festivities gave them a taste of the local culture and they particularly enjoyed a guided tour of the Acropolis, along with all the extra tennis workshops and training sessions.
As mentioned, the event takes place at the renowned Tatoï Club, the home club of Greek star Maria Sakkari. By virtue of their results in Athens, the winners of the event have earned a spot at the 14&U Eddie Herr International Junior Championship to be held at the IMG Academy in Florida.
We also look forward to seeing many of these players at the Carlos Moya 12&U festival, our season ending event in Mallorca, now in its fourth year. The Tennis Europe event invites the top-performing 12 & Under European players to the season-ending championships for this age group.
For more information, go to the IMG Future Stars website.
For more about the Tennis Europe Junior Tour and the Carlos Moya 12&U Festival, click here.
Romero Calvo & Perez win their first singles titles
This has been another busy week on the TEJT, with events taking place in Spain, Azerbaijan and everywhere in between. Here’s a quick glance back at this week’s action:
22nd Nacho Juncosa Memorial | Vic, Spain | 16&U Cat.1
Now a staple on the TEJT, this event brings together the top of the crop of Europe’s 16&U players as well as many local players who want to get a taste of playing against Europe’s best without venturing far from home.
Serena Romero Calvo, is one of these players, with all her five previous TEJT trophies coming from events in Spain. She now claims her first ever singles tournament victory, with a tough 4-6 7-5 6-3 win over Oliwia Sybicka in the final. The Pole has also enjoyed her fair share of victory in Spain, playing particularly well there, and has claimed her fifth trophy in two years on Spanish soil.
Roberto Perez (ESP) also won his maiden TEJT singles title, in a 7-5 6-2 win over Niccolo Satta (ITA) in the final.
An all-Italian Boys’ doubles final saw Federico Gargano & Satta beat Francesco Pansecchi & Alessandro Maina 6-3 6-4. Sybicka teamed with Nikol Marie Jarolimkova (CZE) to pip Vlada Razina & Nina Andronicou (CYP) at the post in the match tiebreak, taking it 3-6 7-5 10-7.
Elsewhere on the TEJT this week:
- ZLTC Brno Cup | Brno, Czechia | 16&U Cat.2
Czech Sara Oliveriusova adds another title to her already impressive TEJT tally of 16 titles and 7 runner-up trophies in singles and doubles. Compatriot Dominik Vagner wins his maiden 16&U title, having won three 14&U singles titles in 2023. - 21º Torneo Internazionale | Maglie, Italy | 12&U Cat.1
Nicolas Lyam Basilone (ITA) and Ania Curuia (ROU) took this week’s big 12&U event, setting themselves in good stead for a spot in Mallorca, with the Romanian picking up her first singles title of the year, while Basilone earns his second Category 1 winner’s trophy. - Favorit Cup | Pazardzhik, Bulgaria | 14&U Cat.3
Local Georgi Georgiev adds a winner’s trophy to his runner-up one from Iraklion, while Ofir Manhard (ISR) wins her first TEJT title of the year - Mladost Grill Open | Zagreb, Croatia | 14&U Cat.2
Croat Sophia Santos wins her first title of the year (see post from X below), as does French boy Evan Giurescu.
For the rest of this week’s tournament winners, click here.
In the coming weeks
12&U players will have another chance to make their mark in a Category 1 event, this time in Rakovnik at the Neride Cup. The TEJT will also remain in Azerbaijan (Baku) for another week and will also make stops in the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Bosnia & Herzegovina (Zenica) and Albania (Tirana), amongst others.
Also, big events are coming our way in May, including the 16&U Category 1 in Rome taking place at the famed Foro Italico. Check out the complete TEJT schedule here.
Kovackova & Lorimer claim landmark singles titles in Maia
Jana Kovackova and Eric Lorimer are this year’s Maia Super Category champions. The Brit has bagged his biggest ever win on the TEJT and adds to his Category 1 win at Tim Essonne earlier in the year. Kovackova, on the other hand, continues from strength to strength.
She has now earned her second Super Category win on the 14&U circuit this year, having won in Stockholm a few weeks ago. The 14&U Race to Monte-Carlo leader also picked up her first ever 16&U win last month at the Category 1 event in Torelló.
Kovackova beat Viktorija Cesonyte (LTU) 6-2 6-2 in the girls’ final. After the match the #1 ranked player stated that she was extremely happy with her level and the way she played. “Winning here feels good,” was all she needed to say, as her tennis had spoken for itself.
Lorimer was declared the champion yesterday after his opponent, Plamen Kolev (BUL) pulled out of the final after injuring himself in the semis, despite winning the match. The Briton was pleased with his performance in Maia, “this week I played very well and executed my game excellently, being really aggressive and going forward. I played some tough matches, especially in the quarters against Izan Bañares who was a finalist in Tarbes.” The Brit won that match 6-4 1-6 7-6(6) after saving four match points in a contest that felt like a final in itself.
“It was a great feeling to play Izan and beat him. I would have preferred to play the final and show what I can do on the court. Overall, I’m happy but it’s not the way I wanted it to go. Plamen played really well this week and he deserved to be in the final and it’s just a shame he couldn’t play.” (Photo: finalists Lorimer & Kolev)
Kolev got through his semi against France's Charles Rossillol 6-3 7-5 after being 1-5 and 0-40 down in the second set. The Bulgarian had previously won his quarterfinal over top seed Johann Nagel-Heyer (GER), who withdrew due to a stomach upset, yet another walkover in a boys’ draw beset by misfortune.
As has been the tradition in recent years, the boys and girls take turns playing either indoors or outdoors. This year it was the girls’ turn to take advantage of the roof, and it certainly didn’t hurt those with faster games. Tea Kovacevic (BIH) and Anastasiia Nikolaieva (UKR) progressed to the quarters and semis respectively but were both halted by Kovackova. Laura Chlumska (CZE) and her doubles partner Ayse Bal (TUR) also made it to the last eight and last four respectively, however could not get past the scrappy never-say-die attitude of Cesonyte. The Lithuanian wore down her bigger hitting opponents, keeping her unforced errors to a minimum while patiently eliciting them from her opponents.
Having witnessed this, in the final Kovackova came out with all guns blazing and was too strong for Cesonyte. When broken back to love at 3-1 in the first set, she immediately struck back with a barrage of winners, punishing any short balls or second serves for clean winners.
Early on, the Czech hit a number of unforced errors when pushed back by deep loopy topspins. Nevertheless, she took the first set 6-2 and then went into another gear, even hitting clean winners off first serves. Arguably she saved her best tennis for the final, peaking when it mattered most. She imposed her game on Cesonyte and was unpeturbed by the Lithuanian’s counterpunching match play, which her two previous big-hitting opponents both fell victim to. In just over an hour Kovackova had won her 10th TEJT singles title.
Doubles
Kovackova teamed with compatriot Katerina Zajickova to beat Chlumska and Bal in the final. The all-Czech combo saved three match points in the championship tiebreak, before claiming the win on their first match point, nabbing the title 6-3 4-6 12-10.
A visibly elated Giorgio Ghia and Giuseppe Samarelli won the boys’ doubles title. The exuberant Italian pair got the better of Brits Niall Pickerd-Barua and Scott Watson, also winning the title in a deciding tiebreak, 4-6 6-3 10-8.
More from Maia
For all draws and results from Maia, click here | For photos, click here.
Elsewhere on the Junior Tour
it was a curious case of second-time-lucky for some of this week’s winners:
- Aqua Gala Open| Beograd, Serbia | 14&U Cat.2
Lucas Alexandru Milos (ROU) won his first ever TEJT 14&U singles title and second overall. Local Ena Ilic adds to her Bitola Open title from 2023, also winning her second tour singles title. - National Sport Park Open | Tirana, Albania | 14&U Cat.3
Eric Ten (SWE) and Alexandra Shreider (UKR) also claimed their second TEJT singles titles. - Atik 23 April Cup | Antalya, Turkey | 12&U Cat.1
Keeping with the theme of notching a second TEJT win, Emilia Henningsen (DEN) won her second TEJT singles title as did Platon Gripich in the boys’ singles.
For all of this week's results and more, click here.
Coming Up...
There are 11 Junior Tour tournaments being held this week, including some of the Tour’s best-known events. The 16 & Under circuit is headlined by the 22nd Nacho Juncosa Memorial in Vic, Spain. The famous Mladost Grill Category 2 event sees some of the top 14 & Unders in action in Croatia, while Italy hosts the 21st edition of the much-loved Trofeo Maglie 12 & Under event.
Look out for Tennis Europe at the IMG Future Stars event in Athens. Many of the world’s top 12 & Under players are in action at the exclusive event, where a special Junior School session will form part of the off court attractions.
Home players taste success at Development Championships
This year’s ITF/Tennis Europe 14 & Under Development Championships have come to another successful conclusion. Players from 10 'Tier 1' developing nations participated in the various events over two weeks at the Club Megasaray, in Antalya, Turkey, which played host for another year.
This year’s big winner was Kerem Genc (TUR) who won the boys’ singles tournament week 1 and then again in week 2 coupled with the doubles trophy. Tea Kovacevic (BIH) and Ayse Bal (TUR) were the week 1 and week 2 girls’ winners.
ITF Development Officer for Europe Vitor Cabral was present all week and noted that “it always very interesting to see the exchange and comradery between teams grow as the days went by and between the players and coaches.” This was clearly on display at the opening ceremony with teams proudly displaying their flags and mingling as well as training with players from other nations throughout the week.
14&U Boys
As mentioned, Genc won both tournaments, mirroring last year’s Championships when another homegrown talent, Kaan Isik Kosaner, scored the double win. In the week 1 final, Genc, the second seed, beat top seeded compatriot Mehmet Toprak Erçin 6-1 6-4 in the final. In the final of the week 2 event, Genc again got the better of Erçin, taking the match 6-0 7-5, and in a further show of domination, the two Turks combined to win the doubles event as well. In week 1, the doubles title went to Marko Aleksovski & Aleksandar Grujic of North Macedonia.
14&U Girls
Bal proved to be a fast learner. While Kovacevic beat her in the week 1 semis before going on to take the title, however in week 2 the roles with reversed, with Bal getting revenge over the Bosnian in the semis before proceeding to take the title.
Kovacevic won the week 1 final 6-1 1-0 (ret) over Sara Mitevska (MKD). In the week 2 final, the North Macedonian was thwarted once more, with Bal taking the decider in a 6-3 1-6 6-2 tussle.
Bal and Kovacevic were on the podium yet again for the doubles. In Week 1 Bal teamed with Ecrin Lal Yavuz for the win, while in week 2 Kovacevic won the trophy with Zana Kunosic.
Other events
- As was the case last year, there was a 12&U training camp run by Cabral in week 1, followed by a tournament for the youngsters in week 2. Honours went to Andrej Temov (MKD) in the boys’ singles and Milena Zanoci (MDA) in the girls’ singles.
- Tennis Europe Development Manager Maciej Szymonski presented a session of the Junior School in the first week, covering various topics including Agents & Sponsorship and Social Media.
Upon the conclusion of the event, Cabral also noted that the 2024 tournaments and training camp were “the smoothest in terms of logistics and organization. It’s a brilliant example of cooperation and experience over the years between ITF and Tennis Europe with the Turkish Tennis Federation and the local organization. I can say that we are all one team in these events. We have seen a lot of good matches during these two weeks.”
Long established as one of Tennis Europe’s flagship development activities, the Championships were devised to provide top-level playing opportunities for the most promising talents from emerging tennis nations in Europe. This year saw participation from players representing Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, and hosts Türkiye. Former competitors over the years include the likes of Jelena Ostapenko, Simona Halep, Marcos Baghdatis and Grigor Dimitrov.
For full results from the Championships, please click here (Week 1) and here (Week 2). Click here for pictures.