Canada’s U14 and U16 teams flipped fates from day one on Thursday at the North, Central America, and Caribbean qualifying round of the ITF World Junior Team Competitions.
A day after getting swept by the United States, both the Canadian U14 boys and girls responded with dominant wins over the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. However, the U16 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors and Davis Cup Juniors squads were both beaten by their neighbours to the south on day two.
As a result, all four Canadian teams will head into the final day of qualifying at IGA Stadium looking for wins over Mexico in order to clinch a spot in their respective Finals later in the year.
Oscar Sounitsky. Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
The U14 boys wasted little time in putting their tough Wednesday loss behind them on Thursday against Costa Rica. Oscar Sounitsky set the tone early, defeating Samuel Romero Leon 6-1, 6-3. Yvan-Rafael Mefire then secured the team’s first tie victory of the week with an equally impressive 6-3, 6-0 win over Hector Cruz in the second singles match.
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For good measure, Sounitsky and Liam Suh completed the sweep with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Cruz and Fabian Pozuelo.
The U14 girls team had a slightly trickier start to their tie against the Dominican Republic, but once they got rolling, there was no stopping the Canucks. Victoria Koniouchine got off to a slow start in the opening singles match but mounted an impressive comeback, rallying for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Kyara Khayyat to give the host nation the early lead.
Antoine Tardif. Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
Briella Amey then delivered a strong performance to clinch the win for Canada, taking down Paula Vega Alvarez 6-3, 6-1 in the second singles. Koniouchine then came back out for the doubles along with Callie Raharinosy and they secured the third point with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win.
For the U16s, it was a similarly tough day at the office as their younger counterparts faced the day prior up against the United States.
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In the Davis Cup Juniors, Callum Mackinnon was beaten in straight sets in the opening match by Izyan Ahmad. Antoine Tardif nearly managed to level the tie, taking the opening set against Teodor Davidov before the American fought back to take it in three.
There was a silver lining for the Canadian boys, as Mackinnon and Marc-Édouard L’Allier gritted out a comeback win in the doubles to secure a point. After dropping the opening set, the took the second and then squeaked out the match tiebreak for a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 victory.
Amy Shen. Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
The Billie Jean King Cup Juniors team had an even tougher time, as both Amy Shen and Isabella Ruyu Yan lost their respective singles matches in straight sets. Yan and Elisabeth Djabourian were then beaten in straight sets in the doubles as the Americans completed the sweep.
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All four Canadian teams will head into the final day of qualifying on Friday with 1-1 records. Coincidentally, they will all have winner-take-all ties with Mexico. The United States has already clinched one of the two qualifying spots in each division.
Feature Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
