Finals countdown: Blinkova, Kenin and Ruud – Chengdu 2016 revisited
In different circumstances, the sixth edition of the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals would be taking place this week at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu, China. The event, which has this year been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has become synonymous with fantastic on-court action as the best junior players from the previous 12 months do battle for silverware. The ITF Junior Finals is more than just another tournament, however, as the players who qualify are treated to a host of cultural experiences, including much-cherished visits to the famous Chengdu panda sanctuary, and receive travel grants totalling up to $15,000 depending on their finishing position. The competition is very much a gateway to the professional arena and, despite only being five years old, has provided some tremendous memories. Each day this week, the ITF will be reliving an edition of the tournament. Today, we rewind to 2016.
By the time April 2016 rolled around the ITF Junior Masters, as it was then known, was developing into the go-to event for the best aspiring players to showcase their talent and trophy-winning potential on a sizeable stage.
As with the 2015 edition of the tournament, a future Grand Slam winner was in attendance in the form of Sofia Kenin of the United States, who triumphed at this year’s Australian Open before also reaching the Roland Garros final.
Like Jelena Ostapenko 12 months earlier, however, the player who would go on to have the greatest success in the intervening few years did not necessarily sparkle the brightest on the hard courts of the Sichuan International Tennis Centre.
Kenin, who was aged 17 at the time, finished sixth after losing her opening match to fellow American Kayla Day and then slipping to defeat against Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova in her final positional play-off match.
In 2016, all the plaudits belonged to Russia’s Anna Blinkova, who overpowered top seed Katie Swan of Great Britain in the girls’ final before declaring “this is the best day of my life”.
She has had plenty of passable days since, enough in any case to be ranked No. 61 in the world, while in January she registered her first career victory against a Top 10 opponent when she defeated Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic at the Shenzhen Open.
Blinkova dispatched two Americans as she barged her way to the final. The first was Usue Maitane Arconada in the opening round before three sets were needed to overpower Day, who would proceed to win a Junior Grand Slam later in 2016 at the US Open.
The final was another tense affair as Blinkova prevailed 6-4 6-7(1) 7-6(4), although it was her intervention following an error-strewn second set which was particularly revealing.
“I went to the bathroom,” said Blinkova. “I just washed my face and with this movement I got rid of all the negative thoughts and all the negative emotions.
“I told myself ‘you will win, you can win, just believe and fight for every point’.”
Blinkova, a Junior Grand Slam finalist at Wimbledon in 2015, arrived in the Far East with significant pedigree having already claimed both singles and doubles titles at professional level.
Swan, who made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Great Britain in the February of 2016, had also made strides in the professional ranks and progressed to final after overcoming Miriam Kolodziejova of Czech Republic and Canada’s Charlotte Robillard-Millette.
For Blinkova, however, victory in Chengdu not only ensured silverware but provided a major and timely boost to her progression and helped shape the development which has since taken place.
“Winning in Chengdu gave me confidence and I learned so many things,” she added. “My tennis level increased by winning this tournament. I learned many things about what I can do on the court and I am still using those things to this day.
“It was my first trip to China and I liked it very much – it was a very special event. We stayed in a very good hotel and went to the panda sanctuary. It was very professional and completely different to anything most of us had experienced previously.
“There were a lot of spectators and after victory in the final we had a lot of photos and interviews. I posed for so many pictures that I felt pain in my mouth because I was smiling so much. It was a very good event for me.”
Despite the agony of defeat, Swan wowed at the presentation ceremony by speaking a few words of Chinese, which she had been practising with volunteers during the week, as she received the runner-up trophy.
It was also a joyous moment for Blinkova, who in a later press conference hit all the right notes having been handed her trophy by two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na. “Honestly, my favourite player has always been Li Na,” she said. “I loved her style of play.”
In the boys’ draw, meanwhile, two of the players on show are now among the best 30 players on the planet. Norway’s Casper Ruud and Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia are currently ranked Nos. 26 and 39 in the world respectively.
The pair met in the semi-finals, with top seed Ruud, who had beaten American William Blumberg in his opening match, setting up a showdown with Korea, Rep’s Seong Chan Hong following a 6-3 7-6(3) victory.
Seong, the No. 2 seed, entered the tournament in blistering form having won 20 of his previous 21 matches, all at professional level, and duly progressed to the final following victories over Spain’s Alvaro Lopez San Martin and Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile.
Despite admitting to nerves, the final went the way of Seong – a Junior Grand Slam finalist at the Australian Open in January 2015 – as he defeated Ruud 7-5 6-3 to follow in the footsteps of Andrey Rublev, the boys’ winner 12 months earlier.
Ruud was full of praise for the tournament post-match, declaring the ITF Junior Finals to be “the best junior event”, while he more than any other boy on show in 2016 has blossomed. Earlier this year, the 21-year-old claimed his first Tour-level title at Buenos Aires.
Kecmanovic, who finished 2016 as the year-end junior world No. 1 and was subsequently crowned boys’ ITF World Champion, finished fourth in Chengdu after losing the final of the positional play-off against Barrios Vera.
But he, like Ruud, has made tremendous strides as a professional and last month emulated the Norwegian by scooping his maiden Tour-level crown at Kitzbuhel. In terms of the ITF Junior Finals specifically, the 21-year-old echoes the sentiments of Ruud and Blinkova.
“I had a really good junior career and I’m so glad I played so many tournaments,” said Kecmanovic. “It helped me a lot and it was a good stepping stone. It gave me confidence and motivation and helped me evolve as a person.
“The ITF Junior Masters was really fun. It was amazing – my first time in China – and it still ranks as one of the best experiences I’ve had so far.”
Final placings:
Girls
1. Anna Blinkova; 2. Katie Swan; 3. Charlotte Robillard-Millette; 4. Kayla Day; 5. Tereza Mihalikova; 6. Sofia Kenin; 7. Usue Maitane Arconada; 8. Miriam Kolodziejova
Boys
1. Seong Hong Chan; 2. Casper Ruud; 3. Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera; 4. Miomir Kecmanovic; 5. William Blumberg; 6. Alvaro Lopez San Martin; 7. Orlando Luz; 8. Nam Hoang Ly