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ITFWorld Winter 2015

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JUNIOR TEAM EVENTS Flags from three different continents were flying after the ITF's 2015 junior team competitions, as Canada and Czech Republic won Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas respectively, and Russia and Korea were victorious in the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals. C anada has been a nation on the rise in tennis for several years now, boasting men and women who have been ranked inside the Top 5 for singles and a Davis Cup team that reached the semifinals of the competition in 2013. But until 2015, perhaps surprisingly, the North Americans had never won a junior team title at either the 14-and-under or 16-and-under level. Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Benjamin Sigouin put that right in October as they captured the Junior Davis Cup, and success in the 16-and-under event suggests there will be more Canadian boys and girls following Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard into the professional game. In the first Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals to be staged on the clay courts of the Caja Magica in Madrid, the Canadian boys were top seeds and they advanced to a final showdown with No. 5 seeds Germany. Shapovalov won the opener against Marvin Moeller but Nicola Kuhn, who lost just one match all week, drew Germany level by beating Auger- Aliassime. Canada won the deciding doubles in three sets as Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov teamed to defeat Moeller and an injured Kuhn. Canada had reached the final once previously, losing to Japan in 2010, so were delighted to make history. "For sure, it's exciting to be the first Canadians to ever win Junior Davis Cup," Shapovalov said. "We had the team to do it. All three of our players are great tennis players." With role models in the professional game who have won Fed Cup by BNP Paribas four times in the last five years, the Czech girls, led by then junior world No. 2 Marketa Vondrousova, were victorious in Junior Fed Cup for the fourth time. More surprising was that it was their first title in the event since 2001. This time around the top- seeded Czechs defeated defending champs USA 2-1 in the final, coming back from the loss of the first match. Kayla Day defeated Monika Kilnarova, but the US No. 1 Claire Liu lost to Vondrousova, and Anna Slovakova and Vondrousova dominated Day and Liu in the doubles to capture the JUNIORS SHOW THEIR COLOURS trophy. "I think it's amazing for me because I won singles and doubles again, today," said the 16-year-old Vondrousova, who was named the event's most valuable female player. "It's really good." Russia's girls successfully defended their 14-and-under World Junior Tennis title in Prostejov, Czech Republic in August, beating USA 2-1 in the final in a clash between the competition's top two seeds. It helped that Russian captain Irina Doronina and her No. 1 player Anastasia Potapova were both part of the team that had won in 2014. Russian No. 3 Vlada Koval was also impressive, often playing as the No. 2 player as she did in the final, where she beat American No. 2 Caty McNally in the opening match. Potapova followed up with a hard-fought three-set win against Tyra Black to seal victory. "I think this year was more difficult for me," Potapova said. "Last year I sometimes played two sets, but this year I have only played three sets every day, and doubles." The boys from the Republic of Korea are building a strong record in 14-and-under competition since winning their first title in their first final in 2011. They returned to the final in 2012, losing to USA, but as No. 1 seeds in 2015 were victorious again with a 2-1 win against three-time champions Spain. Spain's Carlos Gimeno Valero continued his unbeaten singles run in the event when he defeated Minjong Park in the first match of the decider, but Korea rallied as their No. 1 Seonyong Han overcame Nicolas Alvarez Varona and the comeback was completed by Han and Park when they beat Alvarez Varona and Pedro Vives Marcos. The Canadians celebrate their first Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title Seonyong Han in action for Korea

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