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| 15 Aug 2003 | |
| Finals places shared between the Continents |
The semi-finals were contested today at the TK Plus Club here in Prostejov. Again, a beautiful day, with many spectators enjoying the amazing tennis played by the young athletes, including Pablo Olivarez of the Philippines who, at 13, is the youngest competitor.
In the boys’ semi-finals, France/Croatia and USA/Japan earned their places, after winning some very tight and exciting matches over the previous three days.
Five of the eight matches today went to the deciding doubles, ensuring some tense tennis, as teams battled for the all-important positions in the Final placings table.
Indonesia can be proud of their result against No eight seeds, Chile. Agung Bagus Dewantoro proved his talent and saw off the No 1 Chilean, Guillermo Rivera 63 64.
Chile and the Philippines will face each other on Saturday in what will be a tense match to determine the number of qualifying places for their respective regions in the 2004 World Junior Tennis Finals.
In the 9th – 13th place draw, two European and two South American teams faced each other. Italy took the first two singles against Great Britain but not without a fight from David Rice. Rice fought bravely to level the match, winning the second set in a tie-break 76(5). Thomas Fabbiano took the third set comfortably 62. Rice then joined with Darren Walsh, a pairing who have performed so well together this week, and proved again that they are a winning combination by taking the match 62 62. This was Italy’s second win of the week and secured them 9th or 10th position, to be determined on Saturday.
South Africa came off court today delighted with their first win this week, securing an extra place for the South Africa World Region, due to the new Regional Distribution of Places Ruling introduced this year. Congratulations to South Africa!
Over on court number four, a Latin American encounter saw Venezuela and Ecuador face each other. Ecuador won this tie 3-0 against a team which have this week played and fought so well, taking a rubber from both the Czech Republic and Japan.
The USA vs France match began with a fierce battle between Vincent Sapene and Leo Rosenberg. A tighter rubber has not been fought this week, with the set eventually going in France’s favour 76(5) 75. Next up, the two No 1’s, Kevin Botti and Donald Young. Young has maintained his commendable record of not dropping a set this week, and overpowered Botti 62 60.
The other semi-final between Croatia and Japan was fought between Ivan Marevic/Mikhail Karpol and Kei Nishikori/Fumiaki Kita. Nishikori, like Young, has not dropped a set this week, and won the first singles match against Marevic. Croatia levelled the tie to take the match to the deciding doubles and, of course, a place in the World Junior Tennis Final on Saturday. After the break, both pairs walked on court, conscious that defeat would mean surrendering a place in the Final. Croatia took the first set convincingly 60 and seemed to be on a winning roll, gaining from the apparent lethargy of their Japanese opponents who had, only last week, each played four singles and four doubles matches in Hasselt, Belgium. We will never know what was said between team Captain, Kensou Ukon, and his players after the first set but Nishikori and Kita came back with absolute commitment and took the second set to a nail-biting tie break 76(5). The third set saw Japan overwhelm the Croatians with a blistering 60 rubber and take the tie 2-1, securing a place in the Final against the boys from America.
In the girls’ competition, Morocco came through a tough tie against Uruguay in a face off that would decide who would play against Thailand for the 13th and 15th placings. The teams were level after two rubbers leaving the doubles to be the decider of the tie. Following a tight first set, the Moroccan girls eventually overcame Uruguay 76(5) 62. The tie went in Morocco’s favour 2-1.
The first upset of the day was caused by an unseeded Polish team who defeated No 2 seeds USA which means that they now face Australia (6) on Saturday in the 5th & 7th place playoff.
Over on court eight, Canada, who have had mixed results at these Finals, battled hard against the seemingly unstoppable Russians. In the second rubber, rising star, Sharon Fichman, pushed hard for success and was rewarded with the match 63 63. However, the Russian team went on to consolidate their position in the Final, taking the tie 2-1.
Meanwhile, following their thrilling defeat of No 2 seeds USA yesterday, Brazil lost 3-0 to the home side, going down after two singles rubbers. Despite this, the Brazilians launched a brave fightback which nearly clinched them the doubles rubber. It was a tight first set which eventually went in the favour of the Czech team. The battle continued, but Brazil were unable to grasp the set and lost 76(4) 61.
The Japanese team found themselves unable to recover from the loss of their first singles against Australia (6), 64 61 losing the next two and allowing the Aussies to gain the upper hand and seal the tie 3-0.
Elsewhere, Romanian No 2 Alexandra Cadantu, after defeating Kiwi Brittany Teei in the first set, continued her winning streak to take the rubber 63 61. With the first singles under their belt, the Romanian No 1, Raluca Olaru, went into the second match with an air of confidence winning 63 60. The New Zealand team who eventually succumbed to the Romanians in the final rubber 62 60 and lost the tie 3-0.
This evening, our Czech hosts here in Prostejov entertained all players and guests at a barbecue at the Plumlov Dam with a splendid firework display, rounding off a perfect evening and a day of enthralling tennis.
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