Italy and Russia named top seeds for World Junior Tennis Finals
Italy's boys and Russia's girls will be the No. 1 seeded teams at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals which will take place at TK Prostejov Club in Czech Republic this week.
The 16-team boys’ and girls’ competitions pit the best under 14 players in the world against each other in a round-robin format with the top two teams in each of the four groups at the end of the round-robin stage advancing to the quarter-finals. The event is renowned for showcasing up-and-coming talent and previous players include Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori and Kim Clijsters.
Italy, who triumphed at the European Summer Cups last month, are looking to claim the boys’ title for the first time since 2006 and just the third time in the history of the competition. Their team of Federico Cina, Andrea De Marchi and Jacopo Vasami will face tough competition from No. 2 seeds Czech Republic.
Not only do the Czechs have the advantage of playing on home soil, they also boast European U14 Boys’ Doubles Champions Maxim Mrva and Jan Kumstat, who finished as runner-up in the singles final at the same tournament, among their trio of players. Their first opponents will be Germany - who Mrva and Kumstat defeated in the doubles final of the European Championships last month - while Italy will face Sweden, who have qualified for the competition for the first time since 1996.
Switzerland, who lifted the trophy in 2017, will also be strong contenders for the title. The No. 3 seeds have a rising star in their ranks with European U14 Champion Nikola Djosic as their No. 1 player and will take on Mexico in their opening round-robin match.
Canada, who won the North/Central America Qualifying event, are the No. 4 seeds and will face Egypt on day one. No. 8 seeds Korea, Republic will begin their quest for victory in this event on Centre Court against Ecuador.
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Russia are no strangers to victory in the girls’ competition having etched their name on the honours board seven times, most recently in 2018 when Erika Andreeva and Diana Shnaider helped them to triumph over Czech Republic.
Andreeva’s younger sister Mirra will be looking to emulate her sibling’s feat along with European U14 finalist Alina Korneeva and Daria Egorova. The Russians first round-robin match will be against Egypt.
Russia’s closest rivals for glory are likely to be No. 2 seeds Bulgaria who are chasing a first victory in the competition and will be looking to get their 2021 campaign off to a winning start when they take on Switzerland.
Slovakia are seeded No. 3 and will play Ukraine in their first match while defending champions Czech Republic, who have European U14 Champion Tereza Valentova as their No. 1 player, are the number four seeds and will open against Korea, Republic. The Czechs' No. 2 player will be Marie Slamenikova who partnered Valentova to victory in the doubles event at the European U14 Championships.
The hosts will be under the captaincy of former world No. 25 Petra Cetkovska, who knows what it’s like to taste success on the clay courts of the TK Prostejov Club having been a member of the victorious team at this event in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
The first round-robin matches of the tournament get underway at 10.30am local time on Monday following the conclusion of the opening ceremony.