First ITF junior titles for Bourchier, Hives
Harry Bourchier and Zoe Hives have won their first ITF junior singles titles at the Queensland Junior Claycourt International in Bundaberg.
Bundaberg, Australia, 16 April 2012 | Tennis Australia
Tasmania’s Harry Bourchier (Kingston, Tas) and Victoria’s Zoe Hives (Kingston, Vic) won their first ITF junior singles titles yesterday at the Queensland Junior Claycourt International at Drinan Park Tennis Centre in Bundaberg.
Top seed Bourchier dismissed doubles partner and No.2 seed Bradley Mousley (Wynn Vale, SA) 6-2 7-6(2) to win the boys’ title. This victory is Bourchier’s second in a matter of weeks, after he won the Optus 16s National Claycourt championship earlier this month.
“I played well, I didn’t miss a lot and got through the match pretty comfortably,” said Bourchier, who is currently ranked No.171 in the ITF junior rankings,.
“The second set was tight, Bradley played a little better, I stuck with him and I was able to take the match in the tiebreaker.”
The win is expected to boost the 16-year-olds ranking, allowing him to gain entry into some higher-level tournaments when he travels to Europe on a 10-week tour next month.
“The Optus 16s title two weeks ago was good, but this one is even better because it gives me a lot more ranking points so I can get into the bigger tournaments in Europe. It’s sort of a different feeling, but both wins have been great.”
In the girls’ event, No.14 seed Hives showed she was in red hot form leading into next week’s Junior Fed Cup qualifying tie in Bendigo, when she defeated eighth seed Astra Sharma (Perth, WA), 6-3 6-4 to win her first ITF junior title.
Hives, 15, didn’t lose a set all week, outplaying top seed Danielle Fenerdis (NZL) in the third round before upsetting last week’s Optus 14s National Claycourt champion Sara Tomic (Southport, Qld) in the quarterfinals and defeating upcoming Junior Fed Cup team mate Isabelle Wallace (East Bentleigh, Vic) in the semifinals.
“I’m pretty happy and excited to be honest. It was a hard match, Astra had a big serve and big shots. My forehand and backhand were going really well, but I just had to keep in the point to wait until I could get an opening,” said Hives.
In the doubles event, Bourchier made it a double win with partner Mousley defeating [5] Kennosuke Nouchi and Leo Julien Sebaoun from Japan 7-6(0) 7-5 to take the boys’ title.
Girls’ semi finalist, [6] Isabelle Wallace teamed up with [6] Stephanie Yamada (Chatswood, NSW) to win their first doubles title together defeating [8] Anja Dokic (Tuart Hill, WA) and Sara Tomic in an epic battle, 3-6 7-5 [14-12].