Junior Update by Har-Tru: Canada Out in Group Stage of Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals – Tennis Canada

Canada will play the rest of the week in the positional playoffs of the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals after finishing fourth in Group C. 

The Canadians lost all three of their group stage ties 2-1 to Australia, Czechia, and Peru. As a result, they will play in the consolation rounds for final placement as only the top two teams in each of the four groups advanced to the quarter-finals of the championship bracket.  

Here is your monthly junior update by Har-Tru.   

Canada’s opening tie against Australia came down to the doubles after Charlize Celebrini lost the opening singles match but Canadian junior No. 1 Nadia Lagaev kept the team alive with a straight-set win. The pair were unable to complete the comeback, falling just short 10-5 in the match tiebreak of the decisive doubles rubber. 

On day two against the Czechs, both Celebrini and Lagaev lost their singles matches to surrender the tie, although Celebrini and Anna Tabunshchyk salvaged a point by winning the doubles. The loss to Czechia combined with Australia’s win over Peru knocked Canada out of contention in the group stage. 

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Their final tie against Peru followed a similar script as the one against Czechia with the Canadians losing both singles matches before winning the doubles. This time, Tabunshchyk played singles, playing the opening match while Celebrini played second before the two teamed up to end the group stage with a doubles win. 

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The highest Canada can finish at the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors is 13^th place after they lost their first tie of the positional playoffs to the Republic of Korea. Both Tabunshchyk and Celebrini lost their singles matches in match tiebreaks. 

Domestic Events 

Like the pros, October was a busy month on home soil with a trio of ITF junior events taking place in Canada.  

J30 Langley 

The deck was stacked in the host nation’s favour in Langley, BC, as the draws were almost entirely filled with Canadians. 

As a result, the hosts dominated by winning all four events at the J30 event. Each final was an all-Canadian affair. Neither girls final was contested as Bianca Ceroni had to withdraw from both the singles and doubles final.  

J30 Victoria 

The Canadians managed to defend their turf again a week later across the Strait of Georgia in Victoria, BC, getting their hands on every trophy although one was shared with a non-Canadian this time. Amelie Savage won the girls doubles title with Sae Kaneko of Japan.  

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Dani Szabo was the big star in Victoria, sweeping the boys events. In singles, he upset the top seed Joshua Adamson in the quarter-finals and went on to beat fellow Canadian Aedan Malik in three sets in the final. Szabo teamed up with Adamson to win the doubles.  

J100 Woodbridge 

Even with the increased competition at the J100 level, the Canadians still impressed on home soil back east in Woodbrige, managing to claim both boys titles. 

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Andrei Caragea came through qualifying to win his first ITF junior singles title, upsetting three seeds in the main draw including No. 7 Michael Antonius in three sets in the final. In the doubles, Volodymyr Gurenko claimed victory for the hosts with his American partner Mark Krupkin, beating an all-American team in the final. 

While no Canadian girls were able to win a title in Woodbridge, Zoya Chulak and Anastasia Malysheva came close, reaching the girls doubles final.  

Here is the full list of champions at the Canadian ITF Junior events over the last month (all Canadian unless otherwise noted):    

Here is a list of Canadians who reached finals at events outside of Canada over the last month (Titles in bold)     

• Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett: J30 Santo Domingo girls singles champion 
• Filip Malis: J30 Riyadh boys singles champion 
• Lucas Mock: J30 Santo Domingo boys singles champion 
• Rafael Brown: J30 San Salvador boys singles champion 
• Marc-Edouard Lallier: J30 Santo Domingo boys doubles champion (w/ Mackinnon) 
• Callum Mackinnon: J30 Santo Domingo boys doubles champion (w/ Lallier) 
• Lola Emilie Bean: J30 Montego Bay girls doubles champion (w/ Delaney) 
• Mirka Delaney: J30 Montego Bay girls doubles champion (w/ Bean) 
• Miko Lapalme: J100 Estado de Mexico 1 boys singles and doubles (w/ Roussel) runner-up, J100 Estado de Mexico 2 boys singles runner-up 
• Felix Roussel: J100 Estado de Mexico 1 boys doubles runner-up (w/ Lapalme) 
• Benjamin Azar: J60 Bari boys singles runner-up 
• Aaron-David Mefire Younzwe: J30 Douala boys singles runner-up 
• Angad Singh: J30 Akouda boys doubles runner-up 

Rankings Update 

Over the last month, Nadia Lagaev cracked the Top 50 of the ITF junior rankings, hitting a career-high of No. 49 in October. As of the Nov. 11 rankings, she is No. 50 which puts her well ahead of her compatriots. Emma Dong is the only other Canadian girl inside the Top 100 at No. 84, which also matches her career-high. 

Nicolas Arseneault is the only Canadian boy inside the Top 100, currently sitting at No. 83. 

Check out the full ITF junior rankings here.