Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/441551
30 ITFWORLD WINTER 2014 JUNIOR TEAM EVENTS USA dominated Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas in 2014, while Germany and Russia won the ITF World Junior Tennis titles. Joanne Burnham reports. T he Junior Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas was an all-American tale in 2014, with the USA's 16-and-under teams winning both events in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in September. As top seeds in Junior Fed Cup, the US girls were the team to beat and it couldn't be done. Junior world No. 1 Catherine Bellis, who four weeks previously had reached the second round of the US Open women's event, and would go on to be named ITF World Champion, teamed with Tornado Alicia Black and Sofia Kenin to win the title without losing a match. In the final they all played their part in a hard-fought 3-0 victory over Slovakia's Tereza Mihalikova, Viktoria Kuzmova and Tamara Kupkova. It was a reversal of fortune for Mihalikova and Kuzmova, who two years previously were victorious for Slovakia in World Junior Tennis. Michael Mmoh and William Blumberg, who helped the US boys win World Junior Tennis in 2012, were more successful in translating 14-and-under team success into 16-and-under glory as, teamed with Gianni Ross, the American boys won every match they played to lift the Junior Davis Cup trophy. In the final USA defeated Korea 3-0, Blumberg beating Chanyeong Oh and Mmoh overcoming Yun Seong Chung in straight sets. Mmoh and Ross also won the dead doubles in straight sets over Seongtaek Im and Oh. The result left Korea still searching for a title in the competition, having also been runners-up to Spain in 2013. "We always believed right from the start that we could win it," Mmoh said. "We never thought it was going to be this easy. But every single match we just played fantastic. We all believed in each other, supported each other… You don't get this kind of experience every day, so I'm just really happy to have won something you don't get to do too often." It marked the fifth time since the competitions' inception in 1985 that one nation had captured both Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup in the same year, and the second time USA had done so, having previously achieved the feat in 2008. DREAM TEAMS Seven weeks earlier, Germany's 14-and-under boys had done their nation proud, winning the ITF World Junior Tennis title for just the second time. Team members Nicola Kuhn, Rudolf Molleker and Fabian Penzkofer were less than a year old when Germany last won the title in 2001, with victory over a Yugoslavian team which included a certain Novak Djokovic. This time around, the Germans, who were top seeds, came from behind to defeat second seeds Canada 2-1 in the final in Prostejov, Czech Republic. Kuhn's loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the opening match of the decider was his first in singles and doubles all week, but it proved to be his country's only defeat in nine matches as Molleker felled Nicaise Muamba to level the tie before Kuhn and Molleker overcame Chih Chi Huang and Muamba in three sets in the doubles. "Today is a special day for me and for us," said Kuhn. "I think it couldn't be better and I'm very proud of Rudi." Molleker added, "It was an unbelievable week together and I hope it's not the last week. Now it's an unbelievable feeling and I can't believe that we are world champions." Russia's girls have an impressive history at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals but arrived at the 2014 competition searching for their first title since 2005. In a period of dominance at the 14-and-under event between 1997 and 2006, a Russian girls' team had lifted the trophy on four occasions, and been runners- up another four times. They were runners-up once more in 2013, but 2014 was to be the year they returned to the winners' fold, claiming their fifth title. Anastasia Potapova and Olesya Pervushina were a lethal combination as No. 1 and No. 2 players respectively in the European U14 rankings, and ably supported by Tatiana Makarova the Russians went undefeated in nine matches in the competition. In the final they denied Ukraine 2-0, although Pervushina was pushed to three sets by Ukraine's Katarina Zavatska, as was Potapova by Dayana Yastremska. The US teams celebrate their double triumph