'Like a dream': Kazakhstan reach World Junior Tennis quarter-finals

The adventure continues. Kazakhstan had already made history by qualifying for the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals but the quarter-finals now await following a stunning victory over top seeds and defending champions Italy.

“This is amazing – it’s like a dream,” Kazakhstan captain Sergey Kvak told itftennis.com. “My players and I always believed that we could do well here and get through the group and we have.

“The first day, when we played Ecuador, my players were perhaps a little bit afraid because this is a new environment with different emotions and maybe it confused them a little bit.

“But yesterday against Argentina and today against Italy they played great tennis and Zangar [Nurlanuly] made a great comeback from 4-2 down after losing the first set. It is amazing.”

Nurlanuly sealed the crucial point for his nation, defeating Antonio Marigliano 4-6 6-4 6-3, after Daniel Tazabekov had given Kazakhstan the perfect start with a 6-0 6-3 victory over Salvatore Tartaglione.

In the immediate aftermath of their win, the Kazakhstan team and their support staff embraced on court, with Kazakhstan Tennis Federation President Bulat Utemuratov joining the celebrations on FaceTime and passing on his congratulations.

Having never previously contested the finals of an ITF junior team event, whether that be ITF World Junior Tennis, Junior Davis Cup or Junior Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas, Kazakhstan progress to the last eight as Group A winners. A remarkable achievement. 

Also advancing to the quarter-finals from Group A are Argentina, who dispatched South American rivals Ecuador 3-0 following singles successes for Benjamin Chelia and Dante Pagani and doubles joy for Pagani and Jose Fernandez.

Elsewhere, qualification for the quarter-finals had already been settled across the board, although Bulgaria, USA and Switzerland sealed victories to ensure they finished top of their respective groups

Impressive Switzerland maintained their 100 per cent record by overpowering Germany 2-1 courtesy of doubles prowess from Thomas Gunzinger and Flynn Thomas, who won a tense match tiebreak 10-7. Germany, however, still advance to the last eight.

In Group B, Bulgaria defeated Korea, Republic 2-1 following singles wins for Dimitar Kisimov and Ivan Ivanov, while in Group C USA downed Slovenia by the same scoreline as Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy prevailed in the doubles.

Quarter-final draw:

Kazakhstan [8] v Slovenia

Germany [2] v Bulgaria [5]

USA [3] v Korea Republic [4]

Argentina v Switzerland

Placement draw:

Italy [1] v Colombia [6]

Japan [7] v South Africa

Czech Republic v Morocco

Ecuador v Mexico

A full list of results from day three of the 2022 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals is available here.