Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/441551
I n a tight contest to be ITF Junior Girls World Champion, CATherINe BeLLIS, also known as CiCi, edged out rival Xu Shilin for the year-end No. 1 ranking in the last tournament of 2014. The 15-year-old won four ITF Junior Circuit titles, was Roland Garros doubles runner-up, and helped USA win Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. Bellis had an impressive first half of the season which saw her shoot 103 places up the rankings to No. 2 by 9 June. She lost just one match from the start of 2014 through the first two rounds of Roland Garros, collecting Grade 1 titles in Costa Rica and Carson, USA, winning the Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage, USA and taking the Grade A title in Milan. Bellis was runner-up at the Grade 1 tournament in Santa Croce, Italy. The Californian reached the Roland Garros doubles final with Czech partner Marketa Vondrousova, the pair losing to Romanians Ioana Ducu and Ioana Loredana Rosca. She was a semifinalist at Roehampton in June, and reclaimed the top junior ranking from Xu by reaching the last four at December's Orange Bowl in Florida, where she also captured the doubles title with Vondrousova. In Junior Fed Cup, Bellis won every match she played to help USA win the 16-and-under team title, and as a wild card in the US Open women's draw, she upset No. 12 seed Dominika Cibulkova in the opening round. Bellis is the sixth different US girl to be named World Champion, and second in three years after Taylor Townsend in 2012. She is the youngest junior World Champion since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 2006. J U N I O R B O Y S ' W O R L D CH A M P I O N J U N I O R G I R L S ' W O R LD CH A M P I O N ITFWORLD WINTER 2014 11 A NDrey ruBLev is the first Russian male to be named ITF World Champion in any category. The Moscow native had a consistent year on the ITF Junior Circuit, performing well on all surfaces. He won two tournaments including Roland Garros, was a runner-up in three further events, and won two medals at the Youth Olympic Games. Rublev, 17, reached the semifinals or better at five Grade A events, and from early April to early July won 23 of 25 matches played. During those three months the Russian was runner-up at the Trofeo Juan Carlos Ferrero and in Milan, and advanced to the Roland Garros final, where he defeated Jaume Munar 62 75 to capture his first Grand Slam title and ascend to the No. 1 ranking. He immediately went on to win the title at Roehampton, beating France's Johan Sebastien Tatlot 64 26 62 in the final. In Nanjing, Rublev lost his semifinal to eventual Youth Olympic champion Kamil Majchrzak but bounced back to win the bronze medal, defeating Jumpei Yamasaki in their play-off to take his place on the podium. He won a second medal for Russia in the boys' doubles, where he teamed with Karen Khachanov to take home silver. In autumn, Rublev reached the semifinals in Mexico City, was a finalist at the Yucatan Cup, and signed off the year as a semifinalist at the Orange Bowl. The Russian had a successful year in doubles too, winning three titles and finishing runner-up with USA's Stefan Kozlov in the Wimbledon boys' tournament.