Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/ITF
By Francesco Tosini
Canada U14 Girls Earn Best Result at World Junior Tennis Finals
It has been a milestone week for Canadian teens. After Victoria Mboko won her maiden WTA title at the National Bank Open to become the Canadian No. 1, Canada’s under 14 girls finished as runners-up at the World Junior Tennis Finals on Saturday, the team’s best-ever result.
The team of Isabella Ruyu Yan, Tessa Puente, and Milagros Helena Pastuszka cruised through the round robin, going undefeated in nine matches in a group with Austria, Belgium, and Tunisia.In the quarter-final, Canada met China in a tough test. The Canadians lost the first match and were down a set in the second. However, Puente rallied to level the tie at 1-1, heading into the decisive doubles match. Yan and Pastuszka pulled out the straight-sets win to send the team into the semifinal against Korea Republic.
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Canada swept their semifinal tie to set up a final with neighbouring rivals, the USA. A decisive doubles match was once again needed as Puente earned the singles win. Unfortunately for the Canucks, the duo of Yan and Pastuzska fell short in what was still an impressive run by the Canadian girls.
The U14 girls topped the country’s previous best result of third place at the World Junior Tennis Finals, which Canada accomplished in 2003 and 2019.
