Junior Update by Har-Tru: Near Sweeps in Quebec and British Columbia

Canada’s juniors had plenty of chances to impress on home soil over the last month and they took full advantage. At the three World Tennis Tour Juniors events, the hosts combined to claim eight of a possible twelve trophies, including winning three out of four at two of the three events.

Here is the monthly junior tennis update presented by Har-Tru.

At the first event, the J200 Championnat International Junior de Montreal, Canada’s Clémence Mercier was the big winner, taking home both the singles at doubles titles. In singles, she did not drop a set on her way to the title, a run that included wins over the No. 7, No. 4, and No. 3 seeds. At the J200 level, it was the biggest WT singles title of her junior career.

Doubles in Montreal was utterly dominated by the hosts. Of the eight spots in the finals between the two draws, seven were occupied by Canadians. The girls final was an all-Canadian affair, with Avery Alexander and Mercier beating Sophie Dement and Andrea Taylor for the title. On the boys side, the Canadian duo of Andy Tchinda Kepche and Brayden Woo beat Filip Malis and his American partner Tomas Laukys.

^{From left to right: Avery Alexander, Clémence Mercier, Andrea Taylor, Sophie Dement. Photo : Tennis Quebec}

Boys doubles was Canada’s best discipline during the three-event run, with Canadian pairs winning each event. After Tchinda Kepche and Woo won in Montreal, Mathias Hamel van Dun and Loic Massotte were the winners at the J100 in Quebec City. Ilya Sherifali and Alden Yu then took home the crown at the J60 in Richmond, BC.

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Not only that, 23 of the 24 places in those finals were occupied by Canadians. Only the Montreal boys doubles final featured a non-Canadian player. Both Quebec City and Richmond were all-Canadian affairs.

The Canadian girls also picked up the doubles crown at the J100 event in Quebec City, with Dement and Taylor beating compatriot Emy Gauvin and her American partner Teaghan Jou An Keys in the final. The hosts narrowly missed out on a sweep in the Quebec capital, as both Massotte and Ève Thibault lost in the singles finals to American opponents.

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In Richmond, Canada’s bid to sweep all the doubles titles on home soil over the last month was denied by the American pair of Enya Hamilton and Autumn Xu in the girls doubles. They took out the last all-Canadian team, Angelica Panzieri and Kendra Zhang, in the semis before beating the last Canadian hope, Mila Ajdukovic and her American partner Gwyneth Britton, in the final.

^{Deniz Karabulut. Photo : Tennis BC}

However, the girls doubles title was the only one in Richmond that did not go to the hosts. Canada’s Deniz Karabulut and Renee Huang took home the singles titles, while Sherifali and Yu claimed the boys doubles.

Here is the full list of winners from the Canadian World Tennis Tour Junior events over the last month (winners are Canadian unless otherwise indicated):

It was not just on home soil where the Canadian boys dominated a doubles draw. The J200 event in Corpus Christi, Texas, also saw four Canucks duke it out for the doubles title. Joshua Adamson and Caden Colburne bested compatriots Antoine Clavel and Andy Tchinda Kepche to lift the trophy.

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Here are the Canadian finalists from WT Junior Tour events outside of Canada over the last month (titles in bold):

• Joshua Adamson: J200 Corpus Christi boys doubles champion (w/ Colburne, d. Clavel/Tchinda Kepche) J200 Corpus Christi boys singles runner-up
• Antoine Clavel: J300 Spring boys doubles runner-up (w/ Tchinda Kepche), J200 Corpus Christi boys doubles runner-up (w/ Tchinda Kepche, l. to Adamson/Colburne)
• Andy Tchinda Kepche: J300 Spring boys doubles runner-up (w/ Tchinda Kepche), J200 Corpus Christi boys doubles runner-up (w/ Clavel, l. to Adamson/Colburne)
• Peyton Dith: J60 Santo Domingo girls doubles champion, J60 Santo Domingo girls singles runner-up
• Emma Ciobanu: J30 San Pedro Sula girls singles runner-up, J30 San Pedro Sula girls doubles runner-up
• Caden Colbune: J200 Corpus Christi boys doubles champion (w/ Adamson, d. Clavel/Tchinda Kepche)
• Callum Mackinnon: J60 Dallas boys singles champion
• Thomas O’Neill: J60 Dallas boys doubles runner-up
• Diana Brustur: J30 Punta Cana girls doubles runner-up
• Tristan de Cande: J30 Uppsala boys singles runner-up
• Seemontini Pal: J30 Managua 2 girls doubles runner-up
• Renata Reut: J30 Managua 1 girls doubles runner-up

Rankings Update

The rankings saw the biggest shakeup among the Canadians in a long time over the last month.  

With longtime Canadian No. 1 Nadia Lagaev not having played since the US Open, several Canucks have climbed past her in the rankings. Avery Alexander is now the top-ranked Canadian girl, coming in at No. 58, while Lagaev is nine spots back at No. 67. After her strong performance in Quebec City, Clémence Mercier hit a career-high ranking of No. 75 in September and currently sits at No. 79.

Joshua Adamson is now the highest-ranked Canadian junior overall at No. 48 in the boys rankings. He is one of four Canadian boys in the Top 100 along with Felix Roussel (No. 51), Benjamin Azar (No. 71), and Xavier Massotte (No. 90).

Check out the full ITF junior rankings here.

Feature Photo : Tennis Quebec