As the world’s best 14 and Under players descended upon Tarbes for the 2016 Petits As Mondial Lacoste, there was plenty of expectation in the air. Pre-tournament buzz centred around French national champion, Harold Mayot and Czech number one seed Dalibor Svrcina, while the focus on the girl’s side was on last year’s Tennis Europe Junior Masters runner-up, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
The initial stages of the boys’ tournament progressed as expected. The first big upset, much to the joy of the local French crowd, was when Mayot ousted top seed Svrcina in the quarter finals. The joy of the locals was short-lived however, with Mayot in turn getting knocked out in three sets in the semi-finals by the eventual champion, eighth-seeded American Stefan Leustian. Leustian’s victim in the final was Croatian Borna Devald, currently training at the Mouratoglou Academy, Devald looks to be one of the main contenders for glory throughout the coming season on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.
Marta Kostyuk came in to the tournament as the Girls 14 and Under Orange Bowl champion. After losing a set in the second round, she got progressively tougher, giving away fewer and fewer games as the tournament went on. This run of form culminated in the final, where she saw off Czech Denisa Hindova, who had earlier taken care of Kostyuk’s compatriot and number one seed Daria Snigur in the quarter finals.
Kostyuk earned herself another trophy in the girls’ doubles. Teaming up with Latvia’s Kamilla Bartone, the number one seeds easily dispatched British pair Holly Fisher and Emma Raducanu. In the boys’ doubles, the eventual champions were not even seeded, but Italian pair Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Rottoli made it through to the final without dropping a set. ‘The Lorenzos’ capped off an amazing run in a convincing final, beating top seeds Viktor Jovic (SRB) & Dawid Taczala (POL).