On Saturday, the Repentigny National Bank Junior Tennis Championships came to a close with Canadian twins Nicolas and Mikael Arseneault capturing the boys’ doubles title.
Held at Parc Larochelle in Repentigny, Quebec, the J300 tournament, Canada’s biggest junior event on the ITF World Tennis Tour
Nicolas, Canada’s top-ranked junior player in the boys’ division, and Mikael won the title by defeating fellow Canadians Benjamin Azar and Volodymyr Gurenko in the championship match. With their victory, they became the first all-Canadian team to win a doubles title in Repentigny since Daniel Nestor and Robert Janecek in 1990. It also marks their fourth ITF title as a team.
Three all Canadian teams reached the quarter-finals of the boys doubles, with Miko Lapalme and Felix Roussel also getting to the last eight.
Italy’s Noemi Basiletti and Maxim Mrva of Czechia emerged as the singles champions.
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Due to the rain, the singles finals took place at IGA Stadium in Montreal. On the girls’ side, unseeded Basiletti defeated No. 1 seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain 7-6(2), 6-4 to claim her first title of the season. Basiletti overcame Klugman, the world’s ninth-ranked junior player, who lost just seven games en route to the final. The title is the most significant of Basiletti’s career, having won a J200 tournament last season. Her remarkable run to the title included victories over the tournament’s top three seeds.
The Italian’s dream week didn’t end there, as she joined forces with compatriot Vittoria Paganetti to claim the girls’ doubles title. In the final, they defeated Japan’s Reina Goto and Sweden’s Lea Nilsson.
The top players dominated the boys’ draw, with a battle between the top two seeds to decide the singles champion. Mrva, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, managed to defeat top-seeded Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
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Throughout the week, the 17-year-old Mrva proved tenacious, needing three sets to defeat his opponents from the quarter-finals onwards. With Saturday’s victory, he now has two titles in 2024.
Mikael Arseneault was the lone Canadian out of 12 to reach the second round of the boys singles, where he lost to 11th seed Hoyoung Roh of South Korea. Nadia Lagaev, the highest-ranked Canadian in the ITF girls rankings, was the only Canadian to get to the second round of the girls singles, where she lost to second seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan.
U14 Outdoor Junior Nationals
The Under 14 Fischer Outdoor National Championships took place last week at the Carrefour Multisports in Laval, Quebec.
In the girls’ draw, Saskatchewan’s Isabella Ruyu Yan took top honours in singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ontario’s Tessa Sari Puente in the championship match. This was her first national title, and she did so without dropping a set.
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In the round robin, Yan won all her matches, recording five bagels. She lost just four games in the qualifying stage of the tournament.
The doubles final featured the top two seeded teams. Quebec’s Alyssa Beltei and Ontario’s Payton Charley Dith defeated top seeds Ève Thibeault of Quebec and Yan 6-3, 7-6(2).
On the boys’ side, Ontario’s Callum Mackinnon proved his status as the No. 1 seed, winning his second national singles title with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Deniz Karabulut of Ontario.
The two finalists easily advanced to the title match by dominating their opponents throughout the event. Mackinnon soared past his rivals in the round robin, with the exception of a single match that went to three sets.
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In doubles, Mackinnon teamed up with Quebecer Marc-Édouard L’Allier to form the tournament’s top-seeded team. They won the title without dropping a set, defeating Tristan de Candé (QC) and Julian Mahdavi (ON) 6-2, 7-5 in the final.
The U14 event marks the conclusion of the 2024 Fischer National Championships. Competitors will meet again in early 2025 for the indoor tournament.
