Girls semis set in Prostejov: Bulgaria face Slovakia, Russia v Czechs
Bulgaria will face Slovakia and Russia will play Czech Republic in the semi-finals of the girls’ event at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals after the top four seeded nations emerged victorious from their quarter-final matches on a rain-affected day’s play in Prostejov.
No.2 seeds Bulgaria wasted little time in advancing through their last eight match, dropping just six games over the course of their two singles victories after Rosistsa Dencheva and Yoana Konstantinova eased past Hiyunjee Lee and Sarang Lim in straight sets.
“It’s so good and we are so happy to have reached the semi-finals but we are looking for the final, we want to be first in this tournament,” said 14-year-old Konstantinova.
“I would like to thank the girls because this is something great that they have achieved, reaching the semi-final of the under 14 World Championships is something special. For us it’s a really important achievement and I hope that tomorrow we will have even bigger success,” said Bulgarian coach Velian Bakalov.
Slovakia, the No.3 seeds, had a less straightforward route to the semi-final as they were extended to a decisive doubles rubber in their match against No.8 seeds Japan.
Renata Jamrichova defeated Shiho Tsujioka for the loss of just three games before Japan’s No.1 player Wakana Sonobe held her nerve to prevail over Lucia Hradecka in a match tie-break and force a crucial doubles rubber. Hradecka and Jamrichova then combined to put on a blistering display, defeating Sonobe and Rioko Umekuni 6-1 6-0 in 48 minutes to secure their spot in the last four.
The other girls’ semi-final will pit top seeds Russia, who have yet to lose a match this week, against defending champions Czech Republic. It was another impressive performance from Russia’s Mirra Andreeva and Alina Korneeva, who saw off Canada’s Emma Dong and Nadia Ladaev in straight sets to advance to the semi-finals. The hosts recovered from losing their first match 14-12 in the match tie-break to defeat Ukraine 2-1.
There will be an identical semi-final in the boys’ event as Czech Republic will take on Russia for a place in the final. The host nation’s Jan Kumstat and Maxim Mrva defeated Finland’s Linus Lagerbohm and Felix Alopaeus in the two singles matches to record a 2-0 victory and remain on course for a first title in Prostejov.
No.5 seeds Russia bounced back after Sweden’s William Rejchtman Vinciguerra claimed a narrow 4-6 6-2 10-8 victory over Egor Pleshivtsev in the opening singles match to record a 2-1 victory and keep their hopes of lifting the trophy in both the girls’ and boys’ event alive.
The remaining semi-final in the boys’ event will be between top seeds Italy and Germany. The Italians ended Egypt’s impressive run with a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final while Germany prevailed 6-3 7-6(8) in the decisive doubles rubber to knock out No.3 seeds Switzerland.
Due to rain only the quarter-final matches were able to be played on day four at the TK Prostejov Club and all eight matches were played on indoor courts. The four girls’ matches took place first before the boys’ teams took to the courts. The positional play-off matches were postponed and will get underway on Friday.