Double winners at set – now we just need to see who wins the singles titles?
We congratulate the Czech friends Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajícková on the girls’ doubles title and Patrick Breen (Ireland) and Eric Lorimer (United Kingdom) on the boys’ side. The Czech girls won against Polina Skliar (Ukraine) and Aleksandra Zaplawa (Poland) with 6-2, 6-3. Breen/Lorimer won their final against the Bulgarian pair Plamen Kolev and Dimitar Topchiyski with 7-5, 6-0. This was the boys’ third title in four tournaments together. “This is an exciting experience, we are so happy! The first set was a bit up and down, we got broken three times and it was hard to break back, but we played ourselves up,” says Lorimer. “We’ve been playing well all week, which is nice since we had a tough time last week,” says Breen, who is next heading to a Cat 1 tournament in Finland.
On Sunday, highly anticipated finals await on both the girls’ and boys’ sides. Jana Kovackova and Xinran Sun from China impressed greatly in the semifinals where Jana knocked out a year younger Megan Knight (UK) with 6-0, 6-4 while Xinran won against the German Sophie Triquart with 6-0, 6-3. “She came back and played aggressively and made fewer mistakes in the second set. “I’m so happy to be in the final. Everyone knows that Jana (Kovackova) is an incredible player, so I just hope to play well tomorrow. I’ll fight on the court,” says Sun.
In the boys’ final, German Johann Nagel-Heyer and Andrei Radu from Romania will meet. Saturday offered two semifinals with very high intensity and long exciting duels. Andrei Radu managed to seal the deal in the end and win his semifinal against the Pole Sebastian Tejerina 6-2, 6-4. “I’m very pleased with my game in the first set. I got a little nervous towards the end but kept calm and could win. The final against Johann will be a tough match that I’m really looking forward to,” says Radu.
In the second semifinal, Johann Nagel-Heyer managed to turn the tide for the second match in a row. He eventually won against Pavel Oliver Dufek with 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. “Just like yesterday, I didn’t get the best start, but I managed to come back. Before the tournament, I didn’t believe in the final, but now I’m there so I’m very happy”.
Sunday’s singles finals start at 11:30. We hope that many of you will come and watch Europe’s best 14-year-olds!