28 September 2017 | Tennis ACT

Anastasia Berezov (NSW) and Alex Bulte (VIC) have claimed the Canberra Junior International titles at the Canberra Tennis Centre.  Both recorded hard fought three set victories in windy conditions.

In the Girls final, 13 year old Berezov took on second seed Oleksandra Kalachova (NZL).  After winning the first set 6-4, Kalachova levelled taking the second by the same margin.  It was Berezov who proved to be more consistent in the decided, taking it 6-3 to win her maiden ITF title.  Berezov was pleased with the victory saying “It’s my first ITF win and I’m really happy about it.”

Berezov will now turn her focus to the 14/u Girls Australian Claycourt Championships in Canberra where she will be the top seed.  “I’m taking quite a lot of confidence into the nationals, hopefully I can win the nationals to top it all off”, Berezov added.

The Boys final between Bulte and Cooper White (VIC) proved to be a tough battle.  With White leading by a set and 6-5, Bulte came within two points of losing the match.

“I just thought I’ve just got to go for these shots and then I hit three forehand winners in a row to break him there and make the tiebreak.  I played pretty solid in the tiebreak and then had more confidence in the third,” Bulte said.

After over two hours, Bulte won the match 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.  Bulte will now head to Chinese Taipei for two ITF junior events.

In the doubles events Kalachova teamed with Emilia Price (NZL) to defeat Komaki Ido (QLD) and  Natasha Russell (SA), while White and Edward Vo (SA) beat Patrick Kotan (QLD) and Srijan Singh (NSW)

The Canberra Tennis Centre will now host the 12/u and 14/u Australian Claycourt Championships from 29 September – 4 October, along with the inaugural Canberra Wheelchair Tennis Open from 29 September – 1 October.