15th February 2007
Movers Update
by Rose Mather
Time goes by quickly as we had seen a lot of action in the past month. The 2007 Australian Open now has a home boy as champion. Unseeded Brydan Klein fought his way to the winner's podium by knocking out 14th seed Lofo Ramiaramanan MAD, top seed Martin Klizan SVK, countryman Greg Jones (5) and 10th seed Ricardas Berakis LTU. He topped off a fantastic week by eliminating the current world number one, Jonathan Eysseric FRA (2) in the final; a great run that earned him his first junior Grand Slam title and a place in the top ten rankings. In the girls, top ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS came back to Australia and defended her title and added yet another cup to her over-weighted profile page. She made it in straight sets all the way and found her toughest opponent waiting for her in the final; 16th seed Madison Brengle USA, who managed to push the number one to two tie breakers sets. Madison herself also made it through the draw without dropping a set until she faced Anastasia.

Vladimir Karusevich RUS celebrated back to back wins as he took home the Czech trophy at the grade 1 ITF held the same week as the Australian Open, and the Slovak cup from the week before. Petra Kvitova found the run to the girl's title fairly easy after capturing a women's 25k last December.

Venkat Iyer IND won his first ITF singles trophy by winning the BKSP G-4 in Bangladesh. Kyra Shroff IND earned the girls prize by adding another win to her junior ITF singles list.

Gullermo Rivera Aranguiz CHI won his first title of the year at the Nicolas Machivello Copa Graiman G 2 held in Ecuador, while Mallory Cecil USA titled in both singles and doubles.

Teen Tennis, in Bolton, England, produced some movers and shakers in the 14 and under division of the Tennis Europe tour. Top seed Anton Volkov RUS breezed through the draw until he met ninth seed Tomas Pitra CZE in the quarterfinals. Tomas took Anton to a third set tiebreaker only to lose 7-5 in the breaker. With renewed confidence, Anton went on to win the championships over the second seed Lukas Vrnak CZE. Polina Vinogradova RUS (13) dominated the field and won the girl's event over Mateja Kraljevic SUI (15).

The Bolton tournament is a great warm up for the Les Petits AS also a Category 1 held in France the following week. Les Petits AS is the largest and most prestigious ETA tournament held in Europe and covering it live was quite an experience and an education on how an international junior event should be run. Players represented their countries from all around the world and displayed the poise of those in professional tennis. They had the excitement of a youngster on their faces but the look of a professional in their mannerisms.

Carlos Boluda ESP, number one seed and defending champion, met up with the eighth seed Christian Harrison USA in the finals before a crowd of 5000 or more. Christian showed spots of brilliance in his tennis at times but was unable to topple the older Carlos from his throne. Top seed Hanna Orlik BLR also was challenged by an 8th seed, American Nicole Gibbs in the first set of the final, but Hanna stepped up her game to run away with second set earning her the girls singles title. You can catch the full story on the Les Petits AS tournament page.

The 18 and under Wheel Chair tournament, held concurrently at Les Petits As, is a very competitive event with lots of excitement for spectators. These fine athletes maneuvered around the court, and one can only marvel at their incredible skill to get to every ball. 14 year old Jordanne Whiley although ranked number 3 in the girl's junior ITF wheelchair rankings, stepped up her game to upend the number 2 ranked Katherina Kruger GER. Afterwards the top ranked Frenchman and top seed, Nicolas Peifer, spurred on by packed stands, beat out 6th ranked David Phillipson GBR to win the boy's final. Although there are fewer junior events for these players we'll be keeping tabs on their progress in the future.

Back in the ITF on the same week, Germain Gigounon BEL won his first singles title at the Terme Radenci while Indire Akiki CRO added to her growing list of singles titles in the girls event.

In Rajshahi Bangladesh Hsien Yin Peng TPE won his third junior ITF singles title and Marina Lushchina her first.

In Peru, Dragos Mirtea ROM ends his dry singles spell by winning the boys Inka Bowl and Tatiana Bue ARG came out tops in the girls.

Home soil was good for Riccardo Maiga winning the boys draw at the Leuggern Trophy in Switzerland, while Spain's Cristina Sanchez Quintanar captured her second ITF singles trophy.

Last but not least, let us not forget our friends in New Zealand at the Auckland 18 and Under Summer Championships. Austen Childs, home town boy earned both the singles and doubles titles. It's his third singles tile in the juniors ITF circuit. Rachel Houpapa AUS captured the girls singles championship to add to her previous win in Perth last December.

2007 Movers & Shakers: