The first of the summer cups features the under 14 team of Esther Adeshina, Gemma Heath and Holly Fischer trying to qualify for the European final. They are in a strong qualifying group, and may be grateful to be on the opposite side of the draw to home nation France and top seeds Poland - the latter's second player Iga Swiatek has had a lot of success on the ITF circuit this year, beating two of our top 2000 players (Ali Collins and Eliz Maloney) en route to 3 titles recently. We are unseeded, for what it is worth, and open against 3rd seeds Bosnia & Herzegovina
edited to correct and clarify Swiatek's results
-- Edited by DavidC on Sunday 28th of June 2015 06:05:13 PM
The girls edged out B & H 2-1 thanks to a 6-2 7-5 win for Gemma in the second singles and victory in the decisive doubles (with Holly) via two tiebreaks. In between Esther lost in 3 sets. They play second seeds Estonia for a place in the finals
Good news as a 2-0 win secures a final place, including a win for young Auray winner Holly (she is still eligible for under12 events). They play the strong Polish team for seeding rights
U14 QSF
GBR 3 Estonia 0
Holly won 3-6 6-0 6-1
Gemma won 7-6(4) 5-7 6-1
Esther/Holly won 6-4 7-6(4)
The finals started today with a tough draw against the top seeded Czech Republic but they are doing well having split the singles (Holly winning in 3 and Gemma losing in 3) so all rests on the doubles. A win will guarantee them a place at the World Junior finals in August. A loss would mean having to overcome Hungary in their second tie.
The second age category is underway, with the under 12s trying to qualify for their final this weekend. Even without Holly, promoted to under 14s, they have been far too strong for the 3 countries in their group, beating Cyprus. Finland and Portugal without the loss of a set. However the format is that at each venue there are 2 groups of 4, unseeded, and the top team in each group plays the second in the other group. So qualification is all down to beating the Netherlands tomorrow, with a team of Kylie Bilchev (Auray runner-up), Amelia Bissett and Tiana Fox.
Very impressive qualification for the under 12s, who maintained their 100% set record, with the usual profusion of bakery products. Amelia won 6-4 6-0, Kylie won 6-1 6-1 and Amelia/Tiana won the doubles 6-4 6-1
The under 16s ( Georgina Axon, Jodie Burrage and Francesca Jones) are in Newcastle and seeded 1 in their qualifying group, with Israel their first opponents. The under 18s (Emily Arbuthnott, Ema Lazic and Maia Lumsden) are in Italy. Their draw doesn't appear to be available at the moment, but is likely to be tough, as there are 3 countries (Belarus, Croatia and Italy) who are much stronger on paper, with girls ranked around 500 WTA
The attempt to qualify for the Fed Cup finals got off to a good start with a 3-0 win for the under 16s, who now need to beat Portugal to secure a place in the European finals, which serves as a qualifier. The under 18s are seeded 1 on account of junior ITF rankings, and have a bye. They will probably have to beat host nation Italy, whose top player Bianca Turati, has won a $10K, G1 and 2 G2 events this year.
U16 Q QF
(1)GBR 3 Israel 0
Georgie won 6-4 6-4
Jodie won 6-2 6-3
Georgie/Fran won 6-1 6-0
The under 16s continue to take advantage of a weak qualifying group with an emphatic win, and now play Netherlands for seeding rights in the finals. The under 18s are currently playing, but with Maia losing the opening singles 6-2 6-2, their chances of qualifying are remote (Emily plays Bianca , who beat Katie Swan at the Italian Open as well as winning the above titles)
U16 Q SF
(1)GBR 3 (4)Portugal 0
Georgie won 6-3 6-3
Jodie won 6-1 6-2
Jodie/Fran won 5-7 6-1 [10-1]
Disappointment for the under 16s as they failed to gain seeding rights, and therefore face a more difficult prospect next week in their attempt to qualify for the Fed Cup.
Joy for the under 18s though who despite my gloomy forecast beat Italy 2-1 to qualify for their finals. Tennis Europe is not currently recording any result for Emily's match, which might suggest a w/o. However if I have interpreted a report in Italian elsewhere correctly the match was played and Emily won fairly comfortably. Emily/Maia won the doubles 6-1 6-4. They are currently playing a strong Belarus team for seeding rights, and appear to be losing 0-1, but again the Tennis Europe scores are playing up
U16 Q F
(1)GBR 1 Netherlands 2
Georgie lost 3-6 3-6
Fran lost 3-6 4-6
Georgie/Fran won 6-4 6-3
The draw is out for the under 16s in Hungary. We draw Spain, which could have been worse, though their top player is strong (top 50). Unfortunately Russia (with 2 top 10 players) are the other unseeded team in our half, which will not help our chances of qualifying for the Fed Cup, should we lose to Spain