The season of European Summer Cups starts today with qualification for the under 14 finals next weekend. The under 14s are always earlier, because the finals produce qualifying nations for the world under 14 championship finals in Prostejov starting August 7.
GBR are seeded 1 in their group, but qualification for the European finals won't be straightforward, as they will need to beat a fairly strong Spanish team tomorrow. Today they have accounted for Turkey, currently leading 2-0 with singles wins for Edie Griffiths (6-2 5-7 6-3 and Hollie Smart (6-2 6-1). Lara Savic completes the team who play Spain for qualification tomorrow, as they also lead 2-0 (against Israel)
Edie played number one and lost her match to the Spanish girl
But Hollie as two won hers
So it's down to the doubles
Success for the girls as Edie and Hollie combine for a 7-5 6-4 win in the doubles. For clarity Hollie played the singles match between the top ranked players, which is always second, and won it 6-2 4-6 6-1 Edie lost 6-1 6-4. Great Britain play Estonia for seeding rights in the finals
We will be seeded in the U14 European finals following a 2-1 victory against Estonia (Lara lost 3-6 1-6. Hollie won 6-3 6-0 and Hollie/Edie won the doubles 6-1 6-4)
The under 14 girls are seeded 1, as Romania (with 2 top ten ranked girls) only finished second in their group, and we play France in the finals tomorrow
The under 12 girls are battling well in their attempt to qualify for their final. They top their round robin group after two 3-0 wins against Finland and Georgia, followed by a close 2-1 win over hosts Turkey (Megan Knight won her two matches, teaming up with Liv Zingo for the crucial doubles - Ingrid Dumitru is the third team member). As a result they play Switzerland (second in the other round robin group) for qualification
Wins for Ingrid (6-2 6-4) and Megan (7-5 6-2) pave the way for a 2-1 victory over Switzerland, and the under 12 girls go through to their final in 2 weeks time
The under 16 team of Mimi Xu, Hephzibah Oluwadare and Hannah Klugman open their campaign to reach the Junior Billie Jean King Cup finals tomorrow against Israel. Although they have one of the strongest teams in Europe they have a tough potential challenge from third seeds Spain should both nations win tomorrow. Spain include Charo Esquina Banuls, winner of a J500 event on clay earlier in the year.
The under 18 team of Imogen Haddad, Hannah Read and Gabia Paskauskas are in France but their draw is not yet up. Slovakia (who include the JWR3 Renata Jamrichova) and France are the two strongest teams in their section, who will be seeded to qualify.
The season of European Summer Cups starts today with qualification for the under 14 finals next weekend. The under 14s are always earlier, because the finals produce qualifying nations for the world under 14 championship finals in Prostejov starting August 7.
GBR are seeded 1 in their group, but qualification for the European finals won't be straightforward, as they will need to beat a fairly strong Spanish team tomorrow. Today they have accounted for Turkey, currently leading 2-0 with singles wins for Edie Griffiths (6-2 5-7 6-3 and Hollie Smart (6-2 6-1). Lara Savic completes the team who play Spain for qualification tomorrow, as they also lead 2-0 (against Israel)