The first of the European Summer Cups has taken place during the last week with the under 14s attempting not only to win the Summer Cup but also qualify for the World Junior Tennis Championships in the Czech Republic next month.
With Katie Swan recovering from her recent collapsed lung in Guatemala, Jodie Anna Burrage was drafted into join Georgina Axon and Anastasia Mikheeva. Technically she is our highest ranked under 14, but that is because the other three are already concentrating on ITFs.
In qualifying the girls had two easy 3-0 wins against Bulgaria and Austria before losing 2-1 to Italy in the seeding round. In the finals they lost 2-1 to Spain, but critically beat Belarus 3-0 to ensure 6th place, before losing again to Italy 2-1
Six European teams qualify for the worlds, including the host nation, and with the Czech Republic in the finals against Spain, sixth place should suffice.
Under 12 qualifying took place over the weekend. In the absence of Auray semifinalist Lauren Armstrong the team (Esther Adeshina, Victoria Allen and Gemma Heath) managed to win just one of their 4 matches (2-1 against Latvia) with 2-1 losses against Turkey, Georgia and Croatia, so miss out on the finals.
The under 16s begin their campaign to qualify for the Helvetie Cup finals, which provide a route to the Junior Fed Cup, in Hatfield tomorrow. It looks as if Maia Lumsden has been drafted in as a late replacement for Anna Brogan, joining Lana Rush and Gabi Taylor. They are seeded 1 in their group and have drawn Switzerland (thankfully without Bencic)
The under 18s originally nominated the top ranked trio of Katy Dunne, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart, but Katy and Harriet have been replaced by Freya Christie and Jasmine Amber Asghar. They have been top seeded in their group, and have a bye in round1, so will need to beat Slovenia or Portugal on Thursday to qualify for their final.
A strong display from the 1998s ensuring victory in their opener. Their semi pits them against Bosnia-Herzegovina, who have a strong number 1 (Katarina Jokic)
U16 QR1
(1) GBR 2 Switzerland 1
Gabi won 6-3 6-0
Lana lost 6-3 3-6 4-6
Gabi/Maia won 6-0 6-3
Excellent news as both teams storm through to their respective finals.
Tennis Europe rankings often do not reflect the relative strength of the players, giving too great a weight to Tennis Europe events. Hence the BIH top player Katarina Jokic played the second singles against Gabi, and that was the key to the match, Gabi edging it 6-4 in the third, while Lana comfortably won the top singles. They play Slovenia for seeding rights.
The under 18s won comfortably and now play Slovakia for seeding rights, whose top player Petra Uberalova recently won a 25K event
U16 QSF
(1) GBR 3 (4) Bosnia-Herzegovina 0
Gabi won 6-4 3-6 6-4
Lana won 6-0 6-3
Lana/Maia won 6-4 6-2
QF
(1) GBR v (2) Slovenia
U18 QSF
(1) GBR 3 (4) Slovenia 0
Freya won 6-4 6-0
Katie won 6-3 6-3
Jasmine/Freya won 6-2 6-4
Mixed fortunes today. The under 18s continued strongly into their final (bizarrely in late September) with a 2-0 win, including a fine scalp for Katie, but the under 16s lost two tight matches. That could prove significant as their principal aim is to qualify for the Junior Fed Cup. To do that they need to win 1 of their first 2 matches (thus finishing in the top 6), but their opening match will be against one of the group winners (Russia, Slovak Republic or Hungary) - with the Russians particularly strong as you would expect (stronger than in the under 18s). The under 16s play their finals in Switzerland starting on Monday. The under 14s start their World Junior Team Championships campaign in the Czech Republic on Monday as well
U16 QFinal
(1) GBR 0 (2) Slovenia 2
Gabi lost 6-1 4-6 6-7(4)
Lana lost 4-6 6-4 3-6
U18 QFinal
(1) GBR 2 (3) Slovakia 0
Freya won 6-0 6-3
Katie d. Petra Uberalova 7-5 6-0
The under 16s paid the price for failing to beat Slovenia, and are in the tougher half of the draw, starting with top seeds Russia. The Russian singles players are likely to be Darya Kasatkina (JWR 9) and Veronika Kudermetova (JWR 24). Gabi is likely to be playing the latter, and only lost in 2 tiebreak sets to her earlier in the year.
Oh dear - I expected a one-sided contest, particularly in the number 1 singles, but not as embarrassing as transpired Gabi was competitive for a few minutes, then 5 bagels. At least they won't have expended much energy before tomorrow's match, which decides whether or not they make the Junior Fed Cup finals. Slovakia have a strong number 1 (Kristina Schmiedlova JWR27) but their other players are similar in standard and ITF ranking to Gabi and Maia
U16 Helvetie Cup QF
(1) Russia 3 GBR 0
Gabi lost 3-6 0-6 Lana lost 0-6 0-6 Gabi/Maia lost 0-6 0-6
Sadly but not unexpectedly there is no appearance in the Fed Cup final this year. Gabi came close to winning the key opening match, but once that was lost there was little chance of an upset. They play Belarus for 7th place tomorrow
5th-8th play-off
GBR 0 (3) Slovakia 3
Gabi lost 6-4 1-6 4-6
Maia lost 3-6 1-6
Maia/Lana lost 5-7 3-6
Belarus omitted their top player from the singles (Shymanovich, who reached the Roehampton G1 final) which eased the GBR path to 7th place - Gabi and Lana winning their singles, before combining to lose the doubles.
It's a rare week with no Brits in main draws of ITF events. So the main junior event this week is the finals of the under 18 Reina/Soisbault Cup, which start on Friday. The team nominations make interesting reading. Most of the 8 nations are very strong - with Croatia having US Open champion Ana Konjuh in their ranks. On paper our team is the weakest, with none of our girls in the top 100 and, with the exception of Ana we have the three youngest players - Freya Christie, Jasmine Amber Asghar and Emily Smith. Of note though is that Jazzi Plews was originally listed having won her first singles match of the year in an under 16 event recently (albeit by retirement) but she has withdrawn.
By virtue of winning their qualifying group the team have been seeded 3 (although Sweden are stronger, with one player ranked around 500 WTA, they are only seeded 4 because of inferior junior rankings). The draw was reasonably kind, pairing us with Hungary, but it will still require an upset to progress against a team with 2 players ranked inside the junior top 100. Top seeds Croatia are the likely reward for the winners
No upset, so the team will play for minor placings. Surprisingly Ana Konjuh lost comprehensively to the Romanian number 1 (Ioana Loredana Rosca), so our next opponent is Croatia. If both teams are at full strength Freya will have the opportunity to pit her wits against the world number 2, after playing the number 1 (Belinda Bencic) at Wimbledon, and the former number 1 (Taylor Townsend) at Roehampton
U18 QF
(3) GBR 0 Hungary 3
Jasmine lost 1-6 3-6 to Szabina Szlavikovics
Freya lost 3-6 6-1 2-6 to Lilla Barzo
Jasmine/Emily lost 1-6 4-6
Unsurprisingly the girls finished 8th with a 3-0 defeat to Croatia and 2-0 to Slovakia. In the end the strong Croatian team rested Ana Konjuh. Freya came close to a win against the Slovak number 1 Jablonovska, going down 7-5 in the third, but that was the only set won in the two matches (with doubles against Slovakia possibly still to play, but most likely not played)
Gabi was competitive for a few minutes, then 5 bagels. At least they won't have expended much energy before tomorrow's match, which decides whether or not they make the Junior Fed Cup finals. Slovakia have a strong number 1 (Kristina Schmiedlova JWR27) but their other players are similar in standard and ITF ranking to Gabi and Maia
