16U GB Girls win first Summer Cup & Brits star at World Junior Finals
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The GB 16U girls’ team are the new Tennis Europe Summer Cup champions having won all three of their matches in the Finals at Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic.
The team, spearheaded by Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic and Hollie Smart, is the first 16U GB girls squad to win the event and they have also booked their spot in the Billie Jean King Cup Junior Finals as well.
The Brits opened with a 3-0 win over Spain in the quarter-finals, before coming back from one rubber down to beat Germany in the doubles decider 2-1.
In the final, GB dealt an impressive 2-0 win over Romania. Stojsavljevic opened with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Giulia Safina Popa, while Klugman maintained her 100% record by defeating Maia Ilinca Burescu 6-4, 6-2.
Team Captain Katie O’Brien said: “We had some tough battles along the way, but the girls stood up to the challenges, grew with confidence every day, and were playing some sublime tennis by the end – when it mattered most!
“Hannah, Mika and Hollie integrated brilliantly as a team, and this experience will no doubt serve them well in their future careers.
“It's a huge achievement to win the Summer Cup and we're really looking forward to representing Great Britain again at the Junior BJK Cup Finals in November.”
Brits finish third & fifth at the World Junior Finals
There were strong results for the GB teams at the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals over the weekend, with the 14U girls’ team finishing third and the boys side ending in fifth.
GB girls – led by Megan Knight, Daniella Britton and Liv Zingg – came second in the Group Stages with opening wins against Argentina and Paraguay, before a narrow 2-1 loss to Austria.
They moved on to the quarter-finals where they saw off Germany 2-1, after Britton beat Tina Manescu 6-3, 6-2 and then combined with Knight to defeat Manescu and Ida Wobker 7-5, 3-6, 10-8 in the doubles decider.
The Brits lost to Czech Republic 3-0 in the semi-finals, but in a rematch against Austria in the third fourth place play-off, the team overturned their previous result.
Britton and Knight both clinched straight sets wins in their singles to cement a third place finish in the World Finals.
The boys’ team – including Scott Watson, Eric Lorimer and Niall Pickerd-Barua – finished top of their group but lost against the USA 2-0 in the quarter-finals.
However, the Brits finished the week in winning fashion in the 5th-8th place play-offs. Pickerd-Barua and Lorimer won both their singles against Czech Republic and Korea Republic to take fifth place.
Boys' Team Captain Chris Wilkinson said: “It was a great achievement from the boys finishing 5th in the World, the memories and experience from the event will benefit them hugely as they progress on the tennis journey.
“In addition the boys are currently ranked one, two and three in Europe and are all starting the National Academy in Loughborough in September. Exciting times ahead for these three.”
