Boys & Girls: Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris Tennis Europe U14 Super Category, Sweden, acrylic (Week 9)

DavidC · Tennis legend

Boys & Girls: Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris Tennis Europe U14 Super Category, Sweden, acrylic (Week 9)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Nice of them to give Rhys a wildcard

(And nice that Hannah has left all this behind, even though she's the right age)

Thanks for the links and details, David !

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Big congrats to Awen who qualified and has now just won her first match in the main draw in two sets

Awen Gwilym-Davies is Welsh (quelle surprise!) and only born in 2010, so a year younger than most here.

Along with Niall Pickerd Barua, and - of course - Mimi Xu - Awen is part of the big Welsh hopes for youngsters tennis.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Rhys lost his match in a third-set tiebreak

First time I've ever seen him play 'live'

Born 2009, it's a decent game but a lot to work on and not really anything that stands out

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Our qualifier in the boys with a name that I'll be 'copy-and-paste'-ing for some time to come (sorry, Oluwajomiloju Aminu

) lost in three sets - no livestream but very decent effort.
Our other qualifier went one step better - Matt McLain won easily
So with Awen, that's two through

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

And Mark has just won 0 & 0

I saw five minutes but, really, it wasn't worth it

DavidC · Tennis legend

The first round has been scheduled over 2 days, but somehow all our players were scheduled today. Ophelia is the last on court, and has taken the first set 6-1 but is a break down in the second.

Boys R1 (L64)

(1) Mark Ceban d. Ludwig Erik Torsten Tolf (SWE) 6-0 6-0
Oliver Wennerstad (SWE) d. (WC) Rhys Lawlor 4-6 6-3 7-6(7)
Richard Lacis (***) d. (Q) Oluwajomiloju Aminu 6-4 3-6 6-0
(Q) Matthew McLain d. Donan Arja (SWE) 6-1 6-0

Girls R1 (L64)

(Q) Awen Gwilym-Davies d. Leonor Fredrika Charlotte Wiesel (SWE) 6-1 6-4
Aikaterini Oustampasidou (GRE) v Ophelia Korpanec Davies

DavidC · Tennis legend

Last to finish in the hall but Ophelia comes out trumps 6-1 4-6 7-5

DavidC · Tennis legend

Tomorrow Mark is the first scheduled match on court 1 at 9am GMT (though marked, like all other courts as '2.' so there may be a ceremony or something beforehand). Awen has to take on the 4th seed, but as a result gets on to one of the streamed courts, 4th match on court 2.

Boys R2

(1) Mark Ceban v Vincent Jakob Reisach (GER)
(Q) Matthew McLain v (9) Samim Filiz (TUR)

Girls R1 (L64)

(4) Veronika Sekerkova (CZE) v (Q) Awen Gwilym-Davies
Zumra Balkan (TUR) v Ophelia Korpanec Davies

twentytoone · Lower Club Player

I worry for mark as he gets older as his game is very slappy and he relies a lot on the fact hes bigger and stronger than everyone else.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

twentytoone wrote:
I worry for mark as he gets older as his game is very slappy and he relies a lot on the fact hes bigger and stronger than everyone else.

Interesting.

I used to think more along those line.

But I think he's getting a lot more proper acceleration through the shot now, the racket head speed is good, and the placement is also very good, a lot better, especially on his forehand, and that's not a height or strength thing

His footwork is still a bit approximate, which is normal for tall gangly teenage players, but has got better. And, yes, he could cover the ball better at times.

But I think the improvement he's made over the past year is really marked - major credit to his team (and him), in my view

PS I've been watching this match on and off

He did very well - he was struggling slightly - lost the first set - was 2-2 in the second - the German boy was playing quite well but not amazing.

And Mark could have lost his rag a bit but didn't - really buckled down and has now taken the match in style, 5-7 6-3 6-0

twentytoone · Lower Club Player

I agree hes made vast improvements but I still worry for him when people start to grow and become bigger. He would struggles a lot against players that arent affected by his pace of ball and players that play with lots of topspin

DavidC · Tennis legend

It is a perennial question with under 14 boys who have clear physical advantages over their cohort as to whether their results will continue to be replicated when that advantage becomes less marked. I have raised similar concerns, but equally have noted clear improvement in the year that i have watched Mark, so I am hopeful for a positive answer. Mark is down for some ITFs later in the month, should he get wildcards, which may help to gauge where he is at in terms of overall tennis development

The rest of the British challenge here ended abruptly. Mark is second on court 2 tomorrow.

Boys R2

(1) Mark Ceban d. Vincent Jakob Reisach (GER) 5-7 6-3 6-0
(9) Samim Filiz (TUR) d. (Q) Matthew McLain 6-2 6-1

R3

(1) Mark Ceban v (WC) Brayden Woo (CAN)

Girls R1 (L64)

(4) Veronika Sekerkova (CZE) d. (Q) Awen Gwilym-Davies 6-1 6-0
Zumra Balkan (TUR) d. Ophelia Korpanec Davies 6-1 6-0

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Twentytoone makes a reasonble point.

But I've also seen it the other way round. In fact, even more often the other way round

i.e. often juniors who do well are not tall but are nimble, quick, good at defence, get lots of ball back....

Because tall, gangly kids don't move too well and haven't managed to harness their strength very well.

When those kids become 21, say, and really grow into themselves i.e add muscle to their frames, then they stand out.

So it's not surprising that Dan Cox was runner-up at Les Petits As but Roger Federer only made the last 16 (I think)

So, yes, Mark's height is an advantage in some ways, but a distinct disadvantage in others.

Indeed, the best youngsters are maybe the ones like Finn Bass who are not that tall but are very stocky and strong.

However, as above, that doesn't take you all that far in adults when, later on, the taller ones grow into themselves.

So, no, I don't really think height is a huge plus at this age.

(Mimi Xu is maybe an exception in that she is very tall, and very well built, so is very balanced, with a physique of a far older person, which is also easier for a girl).

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

R3

(1) Mark Ceban def. (WC) Brayden Woo (CAN) 6-0 7-6(5)

I saw some of the first which was one-way traffic, as the score suggests

But none of the second which - presumably - was the interesting set...