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| 16 Aug 2003 | |
| 5th - 12th Positions Decided |
The Finalists were decided at the TK Tennis Club today, with teams competing for 5th – 12th positions, whilst the other half of the draw took time away from the courts to take in the sights and hospitality of Prostejov and its surrounding cities.
In the girls’ competition, Italy(8) put in a solid performance against New Zealand to win their tie 3-0 and finish 11th overall. Kiwi No 3 player, I-Chun (Amy) Chen, played her first singles rubber of the week but eventually gave into Astrid Besser of the Italian side 63 60. Corinna Dentoni backed up her fellow team-mate to win her rubber against Ellen Barry 63 62.
The USA came back with a vengeance, following losses on days three and four, to take the tie 3-0 against the Japanese team. With the two singles rubbers under their belts, the Americans went into the doubles with an air of confidence and put in a solid performance over on court two. The combination of US No 3 Kristy Frilling and No 1 Alexa Glatch proved to be too much for Emiko Ito and Ayumi Morita who succumbed 64 63 to the USA in the final match. The USA team finished 7th overall.
An exciting tie took place between Croatia (unseeded) and No 5 seeds Romania for 9th and 10th placings. Maja Sujia made a good start for the Croatian campaign, defeating Alexandra Cadantu 67(7) 63 63. The Romanians then fought back with Raluca Olaru who put up a brave fight against Mirna Marinovic of the Croatian side in a three set thriller. Marinovic took the first set with little difficulty but proceeded to struggle to overcome Olaru in the second, before stepping up a gear to take the final set and win the match 63 57 64. A defiant Croatian team did their best in the doubles and seemed determined to make their opponents work for the win but lost 61 76(2) to Romania who took the tie 2-1.
Elsewhere, the unseeded Polish team fought Australia(6) for 5th and 6th positions, with Poland’s No 2 player, Urszula Radwanska winning her match 63 46 64 despite a valiant effort from Michelle Brycki (AUS). The Aussies came back more determined in the second singles, with Holly Cao fighting a tough battle against Joanna Matuszczyk. A 76(1) 64 victory meant an exciting deciding doubles rubber for a place in the top six The Radwanska sisters refused to give an inch despite the best efforts of Aussie duo, Brycki and Cao. Poland won the match 64 62, taking the tie 2-1 and are now placed 5th overall.
In the girls’ event, both the Czech Republic and Russia will be bent on taking the glory in what promises to be a thrilling Final. Both countries have finished in the top five at this event in the past five years.
In the boys’ event, three of the four matches were level after the singles matches, with the exception of Mexico vs Australia. The Aussies went into the doubles 2-0 down but the pairing of Patrick Nicholls and John-Patrick Smith fought to the finish and clawed back some credibility by taking the match 67(2) 76 62 but lost the tie to the Mexicans 2-1.
Meanwhile, Great Britain(6) appeared determined to defeat Venezuela as David Rice (GBR) swept past Luis Rovira 62 62 in the first rubber. Unseeded Venezuela came back fighting in the second match with the tables turning as Roberto Maytin overcame Graeme Dyce 63 62. An exciting deciding doubles ensued as the British and Venezuelan duos fought it out in a three set thriller. Great Britain floundered in the first set as the Venezuelan team took them out 62. However, Arnaldo Lovera and Maytin came back in the second set determined to take the all-important match. Despite a first 75 win, the Latin American pair went down 62 to the Brits in the third and final set. The British team took the tie 2-1 and finished in 11th place.
The home side got off to a promising start in their first match with Petr Michnev winning 61 60 in a comprehensive defeat of the Belarus No 2 Artur Klimenka, much to the delight of the many locals who were present to support their boys. Despite a closely contested second singles which No 7 seeds Belarus won 63 26 63, the Czech boys (2) took the final rubber in three sets 46 75 61 and finish in 6th place.
Tomorrow sees the Finals and the Semi-Finals of both the boys and girls competition and also the matches for 13th – 16th positions. Some exciting tennis lies ahead for the last day of the competition as the boys’ teams from the Philippines and Chile compete to retain their country’s allocation of four (Asia/Oceania) and three (South America) places in the World Junior Tennis Finals 2004. The boys’ Final between the USA and Japan promises to be one of the most exciting of the competition whilst, on Centre Court, the Czech girls will no doubt do their best to defeat the Russian visitors.
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