He may have some distance to go before he is on an equal footing but if comparisons between him and Canada's Denis Shapovalov continue to be made then rising star Mark Lajal will be very content indeed.

At present, the similarities may be more visual than anything, although that is still a significant feather in the cap for the 17-year-old, who this month claimed his second J1 title of the season at Ricany, Czech Republic.

"For some reason, other people think that I am Denis Shapovalov," said Lajal. "People come to me and ask for a picture and I have to say, 'sorry, I am not Denis'."

In defeating Croatia's Luka Mikrut 6-4 6-3 in the boys' singles final, Lajal ensured he navigated the week without dropping a set and, more significantly, propelled himself into the top 20 of the boys' rankings.

The Estonian currently stands at a career-best No. 15, with his success in Czech Republic building upon his J1 triumph earlier in the campaign at Svyatopetrivske village in Ukraine.

"I am happy," added Lajal. "For the past three years, I have been trying to get my ranking up and now, finally, I've made it to the high ranking. It makes me feel good and all the hard work has paid off."

"In Estonia, we don't really have top men's players, most of our players are around Nos. 500 and 600 now. But there are a few good juniors coming up so hopefully we can have very strong tennis in our country in future."

Lajal's development has also been boosted by hitting with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Mouratoglou Academy in France last month, while he has also benefitted from practising with Shapovalov and Daniil Medvedev.

"Those were very good experiences for me to learn from top players, how they play and everything, and they were big opportunities," said Lajal, who has designs on a Junior Grand Slam debut in the coming weeks and months.

"I have also practised a lot with Daniil Medvedev and he is a really nice guy. He is different from everybody else with his technique and game style, which I like."

Lajal was joined in the winners' enclosure by Germany's Julia Middendorf, who sealed the maiden J1 title of her career with victory over home favourite Nikola Bartunkova in the final.

Bartunkova last month became the first player born in 2006 to accumulate enough points to earn a WTA Ranking, although on this occasion it was Middendorf who came out on top, winning 6-3 4-6 7-6(4).

That was despite a slight curveball presenting itself. The tournament's finals were played on an indoor hard court due to bad weather, despite the earlier rounds being contested on clay. Irrespective of the unforeseen hurdles, Middendorf was thrilled.

"At the moment, I am just speechless," she said shortly after clinching victory. "I am really happy with my performance and, at the moment, I can't believe that I won this tournament.

"Other matches were outside on clay and this one was on hard court, which is tough, and especially to play against her [Bartunkova] is not so easy."

Bartunkova was not to be denied silverware, however, as she prevailed in the girls' doubles alongside fellow Czech Sara Bejlek, while Czech duo Jakub Nicod and Vojtech Petr claimed the boys' doubles title.

At the other J1 tournaments in Europe in April, Spain's Daniel Rincon and Michaela Laki of Greece won the first J1 titles of their careers at Plovdiv. Rincon is now ranked No. 10 in the boys' rankings and Laki No. 23 in the girls' standings.

At Kazan, meanwhile, Slovenia's Sebastian Dominiko and Russia's Alina Shcherbinina were the victors, continuing the trend of first-time J1 champions.