Russia endured the pressure to seal their first ITF World Junior Team Finals girls' title since 2015, securing a tense 2-1 victory over Czech Republic as Diana Shnaider and Erika Andreeva defeated Linda Fruhvirtova and Linda Noskova 6-4 6-4 in the deciding doubles rubber.

The boys' final presented no such complications. After a gruelling week in which their team rolled through their opposition without a single loss, Bruno Kuzuhara eased past Czech No. 2 Oldrich Vejsicky 6-0 6-0 and Victor Lilov saw off Hynek Barton 6-3 6-4 to capture USA's first title since 2012.

The American boys' singles prowess offered themselves an opportunity to rest in their dead doubles rubber. Except they didn't. As their defeated Czech opponents laughed and played around, Evan Wen and Kuzuhara were deadly serious. They roared and jumped and insulted their own mistakes, and then they finally won 6-1 4-6 10-7 to finish the week 18-0.<

"We're just having fun, right?" said Wen about his doubles intensity.

Kuzuhara was more considered. "Even though we're up, we've already won, we treat every match the same. Every time a practice match. We might play together in the future. It's got importance."

That kind of drive was characteristic of the US team that roared to the World Junior Tennis title efficiently, spotlessly and with little attention. It's not often that any American team, no less a second seeded American team, falls under the radar, but throughout the event it seemed so.

From the beginning of the week, it was the top-seeded French team that commanded much of the attention with its highly-ranked European players. When they lost, onlookers swarmed around the courts of the South Americans.

What people were missing was a brilliantly diverse team in background and game. All three American boys are home-schooled and coached at home. Kuzuhara, the smallest player on the team, is born to in Brazilian parents who immigrated to America when he was younger, used his speed, weight of shot and counter attacking to anchor the team.

Wen, whose mother hails from Chinese Taipei, already stands tall at 6'3" and he uses his height precisely as expected. Throughout the week, Wen served bombs, raced to the net whenever possible and took on his forehand. "He's a typical powerhouse," said Kuzuhara of Wen's game. "He has a huge serve, big forehand, great volleys, he's a great doubles player."

Lilov, champion at Les Petites As and USA's No. 1 player, who curses his mistakes in Bulgarian, his parents' tongue, falls in the middle. "I'd consider him more of an all around player," said Kuzuhara. "He's got every shot in the bag he can go to. He said he always finds out ways to win and he's really mentally tough. When he's put on the pressure, when he's put in the spotlight, he delivers.

For the US coach, Jon Glover, the method of the victory was more significant than the fact itself.

"I'm happy for them," he said. "I'm happy that they were able to have this win as a culmination of all this work they have done over the last several months. I've been with these guys for a couple of years now. They're extremely hard workers and they're all very focused. These guys were willing to put the work in to get better. So that's what I'm most proud of, not necessarily that they won but that they committed to some very professional habits."

While USA's fire was particularly admirable in their dead rubber, Russia exhaled flames after every stroke. Throughout the week, no victorious point was celebrated without long cries of 'davai'.

They did so for good reason, as they dug deep to defeat the two other excellent teams in the competition, the Czech Republic and the USA, to win the title. On Friday, Shnaider survived a grueling, impressive three-setter against the USA's number one, Katrina Scott, to seal their semi-final victory over USA. But in the final, it was Andreeva who played the singles heroine, notching the first rubber 6-4 3-6 6-4 in a high quality match. After European champion Linda Noskova finally found her best tennis to oust European No. 1 Shnaider to level the tie up, the Russian pair combined to take the title 6-4 6-4.

While the level of the boys' field seemed more even throughout, the level of girls' draw rose steeply with the quality of the team, those three teams standing atop. The USA arrived with big serves and an unmatched physical and technical presence, while the Czechs showed themselves to be excellent shotmakers with great timing. What was most impressive about the two Russian singles players, Andreeva and Shnaider, was how well they dealt with and redirected the pace that every player threw at them throughout.

After the matches, Glover underlined precisely what he was looking for in a 14-and-under event. "The biggest thing is for them to try to play the right way, whatever that is for their games," he said. "A lot of times, when the pressure is on in an event like this, you'll see them start to regress and do things that are a little bit more comfortable. We want to see them play attacking tennis. At the highest level, you can't hope the guy misses on the big points.

Both the American boys team and the Russian girls' team embodied this throughout. They treated every match the same and, as a consequence, they have put their markers down as possible stars for the future.