Girls: European Summer Cups 2011 (U14/U16/U18)

DavidC · Tennis legend

Girls: European Summer Cups 2011 (U14/U16/U18)

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Good luck girls

Not a bad team

DavidC · Tennis legend

Against the odds the girls have won and qualified for the World Team Finals. Freya did well to last 90 minutes against a star player. In the semis they play top seeds and favourites Russia, who have 3 very strong players.

QF

(4) Latvia 1 GBR 2

Lana won 6-0 6-3
Freya lost 3-6 4-6
Freya & Lana won 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3

SF

(1) Russia v GBR

DavidC · Tennis legend

Freya & Lana did very well to push their strong opponents to 3 sets.

SF

(1) Russia 3 GBR 0

Lana lost 6-2 3-6 4-6
Freya lost 7-6(4) 0-6 4-6
Lana/Maia lost 2-6 5-7

3rd-4th place play-off

GBR v Slovenia

DavidC · Tennis legend

A highly creditable 3rd place for the under 14 girls, belying their rankings

GBR 3 Slovenia 0

Lana won 6-4 6-4
Freya won 6-0 7-5
Freya/Maia won 5-7 6-3 6-1

On to the World Team Finals in August

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Good to see them qualify

DavidC · Tennis legend

Attention now turns to the other two age groups, especially the under 16s who are chasing qualifying spots in the Fed Cup. To have any chance of that they need to qualify for the finals of the Helvetie Cup through their group in the Czech Republic. The nominated team is Eleanor Dean, Katy Dunne and Pippa Horn, and they are seeded to qualify, though their likely semi-final opponents (Slovenia) could prove testing. Tomorrow they open against Denmark which should be comfortable.

DavidC · Tennis legend

GBR duly won their first round match easily, and given the weakness of the opposition I'm a bit surprised that Pippa Horn wasn't given a singles berth, in case she is needed later on. Moldova upset the seeded Slovenians, so they are the team we have to beat to reach the finals. It looks like they have a couple of good underranked players (like many from the poorer Eastern European countries they have played few ranking matches). They easily dealt with the Slovenian number 2, who is ITF top 200 with a win over Eleanor Dean.

Denmark 0 GBR 3

Eleanor won 6-0 6-2
Katy won 6-1 6-1
Eleanor & Katy won 6-1 6-2

DavidC · Tennis legend

First the bad news - GBR lost to Moldova cry
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Now the good news: GBR defeated Moldova biggrin

Under 18 r1

(4) GBR 1 Moldova 2

Georgina Sellyn won 7-6(2) 6-2
Jessica Ren lost lost 6-4 3-6 1-6
Laura Deigman/Jessica Ren lost 0-6 6-4 0-6

Under 16 SF

(2) GBR 2 Moldova 1

Eleanor won 6-1 4-6 6-3
Katy lost 3-6 6-4 5-7
Eleanor/Katy won 6-4 7-5

So after a highly contested match the under 16s qualify for the Helvetie Cup finals and play the strong Czech team tomorrow to determine whether or not they will be seeded. The Czech number 1 Petra Rohanova beat Eleanor 1 & 1 in the Trofeo Bonfiglio, but Eleanor will avoid her if they stick to the same team as for the purposes of this competition Katy is ranked 1 and Eleanor 2.

The under 18s won a consolation match against Greece this afternoon: Georgina and Laura winning singles before Georgina teamed up with Jess to claim the doubles.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Pippa was given an opportunity today, and performed creditably against a top 100 player. That meant Eleanor having a rematch with Rohanova, and showing the progress made in recent weeks by edging the Czech girl. The one worrying performance was the comprehensive doubles defeat, as they will probably need to win the doubles in order to secure a win in the first 2 matches next week, in order to qualify for the Junior Fed Cup

U16 Qualifying Final

(1) Czech Republic 2 (2) Great Britain 1

Pippa Horn lost to Aneta Dvorakova 4-6 2-6
Eleanor Dean beat Petra Rohanova 5-7 7-5 6-2
Dean/Dunne lost to Krejcikova/Dvorakova 0-6 1-6

Team photo (Eleanor, Pippa, Katy and team captain Jane O'Donoghue ) at http://www.tenniseurope.org/photobook_photo.aspx?id=7069&imgid=291499

DavidC · Tennis legend

The under 16 finals start on Monday in Leysin (Switzerland). Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and Spain will be seeded. France, GBR, Germany and Poland will be unseeded. The big shock is Russia's elimination, having put out a team of 1996's rather than the top 1995s who would have been favourites to win the title.

DavidC · Tennis legend

The draw for the under 16 finals has been made, and unfortunately we are in the same half of the draw as the strongest unseeded team (France) so it will need a big effort to qualify for the Fed Cup. The first opportunity tomorrow is against 2nd seeds Romania, a team which has gained its high seeding mainly through Tennis Europe Under 16 rather than ITF events. They have lost their number 1 to injury, so there is hope.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Wonderful news from Leysin as we qualify for the Junior Fed Cup for the first time in 3 years smile

Eleanor Dean's singles win was expected, but she and Katy must have combined much better than against the Czech Republic to get the vital doubles win

GBR 2 (2)Romania 1

Eleanor Dean d. Ioana Ducu 6-2 6-2
Katy Dunne lost to Ioana Loredana Rosca 3-6 3-6
Dean/Dunne d. Rosca/Ene 6-1 7-6(6)

SF

(3) Italy v GBR

DavidC · Tennis legend

Eleanor was ruled out of the semi with a back injury and though Pippa and Katy both managed to win a set they couldn't claim a victory

SF

(3) Italy 2 GBR 0

Pippa Horn lost to Camilla Rosatello 2-6 7-6(5) 1-6
Katy Dunne lost to Giulia Pairone 5-7 6-2 2-6

They play-off for 3rd/4th against either Spain or the Czech Republic (there is conflicting information on Tennis Europe about who won their match)

DavidC · Tennis legend

GBR lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic to finish 4th. Eleanor's back problem does not seem to be significant as she returned to beat Rohanova for the second time, before she and Pippa lost the doubles 6-4 in the third. They should be pleased though at having qualified for the Fed Cup next month