The under 18s drew the short straw of the Czech Republic, who on ranking are the strongest team in the final (they lost to the second strongest Germany in qualifying, thanks to Robin Kern, who pushed Liam Broady at Wimbledon, beating Jiri Vesely). An opportunity for Josh or Toby to play the world number 1.
The draw for the under 16s has pitted GBR against Ukraine, who were hammered by Italy in singles, so I expect a comfortable passage. The other top nations, France and Italy, are in the opposite half, which should bolster our chances of making the final as last year.
Evan Hoyt won the first rubber 1 & 2
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
A very solid qualification for the Junior Davis Cup Next up is Israel who upset fourth seeds Germany in what always looked the most evenly matched contest. Their players (Or Ram-Harel and Igor Smilansky) are a step up from Ukraine's, ranked just outside the top 100 ITF. France and Italy won as expected to contest the other semi
(2)GBR 3 Ukraine 0
Evan Hoyt d. Yuriy Kryvoy 6-1 6-2 Kyle Edmund d. Pylyp Kekercheni 6-1 6-1 Bambridge/Hoyt d. Kekercheni/Kryvoy 6-2 6-2
Evan Hoyt d. Igor Smilansky 6-2 4-6 6-3 Kyle Edmund d. Or Ram-Harel 6-0 6-1 Edmund/Bambridge lost to Smilansky/Ram-Harel 6-4 2-6 [6-10]
We've only appeared in the finals once before in the tournament's 36 year history, and as Wolf remarked that was last year. Tomorrow's final pits us against 3rd seeds Italy, who squeaked through against France (all 3 matches going to 3 sets). The Italians field Stefano Napolitano, who beat Liam at the Trofeo Bonfiglio and the top 1996 Gianluigi Quinzi. Their doubles team won the European Championships recently.
The under 18s beat Belarus 3-0 with Oliver and Toby winning their singles in straight sets before Toby and Josh combined to win the doubles. They play off for 5th/6th tomorrow
Evan also stepped up, playing top 100 tennis judging by the results, so I hope he can carry that through to the forthcoming tournaments and join Kyle and Luke in the top 100 before the end of the year.
The LTA had someone in Le Touquet to provide Twitter updates, and also interviews with Greg and the team yesterday