GB juniors set for 2019 European Championships
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Great Britain’s leading junior tennis players are competing in the 2019 European Junior Championships across venues in Czech Republic, Russia and Switzerland this week.
First staged in 1976, the event is regarded as the highlight of Europe’s junior tennis calendar, and will see the British team of 12 compete with over 450 top players from 45 nations.
The event covers three age categories – 14 & under, 16 & under and 18 & under. The British squad for the Championships is part of the LTA’s National Age Group Programme, and includes two girls and two boys in each age category with players taking part in both singles and doubles.
14 & Under (Most, CZE)
- Eva Shaw
- Ranah Stoiber
- Luca Pow
- Henry Searle
LTA Team Captains – Richard Plews and Katie O’Brien
16 & Under (Moscow, RUS)
- Kylie Bilchev
- Amelia Bissett
- Lui Maxted
- Jack Pinnington Jones
LTA Team Captains – Chris Wilkinson and Kate Warne-Holland
18 & Under (Klosters, SUI)
- Sonay Kartal Sussex (coach Ben Reeves)
- Sasha Hill Kent (coach Paul Dent)
- Arthur Fery Surrey (coach Craig Veal/Benoit Foucher)
- Felix Gill Worcestershire (coach Gary Naughton)
LTA Team Captains – Martin Weston and Francesca Lewis
Events such as the European Junior Championships give our junior players the opportunity to compete against some of the best players in Europe in their age group, a valuable experience a s part of their development along the LTA's Player Pathway.
The champions this week will claim a title that features 11 former and current world No.1’s amongst its previous winners – including Simona Halep, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf, Novak Djokovic and Stefan Edberg. Rising stars including Stefanos Tsitsipas, Iga Swiatek, Holger Rune and Anastasia Potapova have also all won European Junior Championship titles in the past five years.
The competition continues until Sunday, with matches being played in Most (Czech Republic), Moscow (Russia) and Klosters (Switzerland). Each venue has also hosted a special session of the Tennis Europe Junior School, designed to help educate and prepare young athletes for life as professional tennis players.
Surrey’s Jack Pinnington-Jones has reached the Boys U16 Quarter-Finals where he will take on Russia’s No.2 seed Stefan Popovic today, while Britain’s Girls U14, Girls U16 and Boys U16 pairings will all being playing semi-finals on Friday.
All the latest news and results from the Championships this week can be found at www.tenniseurope.org.
