The Yonex Calgary Junior ITF Tennis Tournament gives Alberta Juniors a chance to test their game against world class players.  On May 27-31, Alberta’s top juniors, age 13-18, joined players from the U.S., Jordan, India and Chile in Calgary, to compete in the International Tennis Foundation’s (ITF) World Tennis Tour.

(Photo above by Kyle Clapham:  Kayla Cross from Ontario, girls singles and doubles champion).

This year three out of the four courts in the girls quarterfinal matches featured Alberta juniors–Mia Kupres, Karin Hamilton, and Martyna Ostrzygalo–a great result for Alberta’s junior girls.

Q. What is the ITF World Tennis Tour For Juniors?

A. The ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors is comprised of a series of international junior tennis tournaments open worldwide to successful national standard competitors. The circuit gives players the opportunity to compete against the best players from other nations. It also provides experience of international competition, as a junior player transitions into a career in professional tennis.

Alberta was well-represented overall by thirteen girls and five boys in the 32-player main draws.  This was the best Alberta showing yet in the tournament’s three-year history in Calgary.

Danny Da Costa, the tournament Director, commented on the tournament’s highlights:

“I thought there were very good young Canadian players in this year’s event. I am mostly pleased with the fact that 24 players from Alberta participated (including the qualifying event).  Many of them achieved good results (three girls in the quarterfinals).  The Alberta players were also able to earn ITF points, improving their international rankings.  The girls’ event was won by 13-year- old Kayla Cross who is a tremendous Canadian prospect for international success.  (Danny Da Costa, CEO of the Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre).

Three of Four Quarterfinal Matches Featured Alberta Junior Girls 

In the girls quarterfinals, Edmonton’s Mia Kupres, age 15, faced Kayla Cross of Ontario, the eventual tournament winner.  Calgary’s Karin Hamilton, age 17, faced Teah Chavez of Saskatchewan, the tournament runner up.  And Edmonton’s Martyna Ostrzygalo, age 13, faced Corina Spasojevic, also of Ontario.

All three matches were close battles.

Mia Kupres was the only player to win a set against Kayla Cross, the tournament champion, losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarter-final match.  Kupres played three other Junior ITF tournaments in May in Florida, with a best finish of quarterfinals at Plantation, Florida, two weeks before the Calgary event.  Read more about Mia’s first win at a Junior ITF tournament in Mexico.  (See Mia’s upcoming schedule in her under-development web site).

(Photo below by Kyle Clapham:  Mia Kupres in the singles quarterfinals.)

Karin Hamilton forced a 3-set match with Teah Chavez, the tournament runner-up, losing 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinal match.

(Photo below by Kyle Clapham:  Karin Hamilton in the quarterfinals).

Martyna Ostrzygalo won 11 of 25 games against semi-finalist Corina Spasojevic, losing the quarter-final match 7-6 (4), 7-5.  Earlier in May Martyna achieved another quarterfinal finish at the Edmonton Open, and  at an ITF Junior tournament in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

(Photo below by Kyle Clapham:  Martyna Ostrzygalo in the quarterfinals)

In the girls final, Kayla Cross of Ontario defeated Teah Chavez of Saskatchewan, 6-2, 6-1.  Kayla Cross is currently ranked #2 in Canada in the  Junior U14 category (Martyna Ostrzygalo is ranked #4 in that category).  This was her first junior ITF singles win.

(Photo below by Kyle Clapham, left to right:  Teah Chavez runner-up, Danny Da Costa Tournament Director, and Kayla Cross winner.)

Mia Kupres Makes The Doubles Finals

Mia Kupres, with doubles partner Corina Spasjevic (from Ontario), had her best doubles finish this year in a Junior ITF event, as a finalist.  The team earned a win over the Alberta duo Jewitt/Ostrzygalo, then squeaked through in a tiebreaker against Arksey/Buyckx to earn their spot in the doubles final.  They competed well but could not overcome the strength of the Cross/Grubor team from Ontario, losing 3-6, 4-6.

This was Kayla Cross’s second doubles win at an ITF Junior event in two weeks.  She won an ITF Junior Doubles event in the Cayman Islands with partner S. Williams (USA), May 13-18.  As both the singles and doubles winner in Calgary, this was Kayla’s best ever Junior ITF result.

(Photo below by Kyle Clapham, left to right:  Girls doubles winners, Kayla Cross and Ana Grubor, with runners up Corina Spasjevic and Mia Kupres).

Boys Results

The boys quarterfinals featured three players from the U.S., four from Canada, and one from China.  Two from Canada, Christopher Heck (#1 seed) and Jayden Templeman (#6 seed), and two from the U.S., Alexander Petrov (#4 seed) and Dominik Jakovljevic (#5 seed), moved on to the semi-finals for a Canada vs. U.S. showdown.

The U.S. players won both semi-final matches although the Canadians forced three-setters in both matches.  In the final, Dominik Jakovljevic had a slow start losing 2-6 to his U.S. countryman Alexander Petrov.  But he rallied to win the match in three, dominating Petrov in the final two sets, 6-1, 6-1.

Alberta’s Joshua Oboniye moved on to the second round with a close win over his Alberta team mate Evan Holt (5-7, 6-4, 7-5).   In the second round, Joshua had the opportunity to play the eventual tournament champion, Dominik Jakovljevic.

(Photos below by Kyle Clapham, boys tournament winner, Dominik Jakovljevic).

In the boys doubles semi-finals, the Canadian team of Stefan Simeunovic and Maxime St-Hilaire defeated the number one team, Jakovljevic/Petrov from the U.S., 6-4, 6-3.  Meanwhile in the other all-Canadian semi-final Christophe Clement and Jaden Weekes, came through with a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Noroozian/Templeman (Canada).  This set the stage for a competitive final match between the two Canadian doubles teams.  Clement/Weekes claimed the victory with a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Simeunovic/St-Hilaire duo. \

(Photo below by Kyle Clapham:  Boys doubles champions, Jaden Weekes and Christophe Clement).

Other results

Other Alberta girls, in addition to the three quarter finalists, playing in the main draw were:

  • Emma Rutherford, Alexandra Jewitt, Aurora Pedwell, Jessica Kreutz, Emma Chapman, Gianna Oboniye (1st round)
  • Alexia Jacobs, Hana Gamracy, Hailey Murphy, and Nawal Youssef (2nd round)

Alberta boys playing in the main draw, in addition to Joshua Oboniye, were:

  • Liam Spiers, Tyler Waddock, Tyler Sinclair, and Evan Holt (1st round).
  • Chetanna Amadike also partnered with Evan Holt in doubles

Read more on the results of the Yonex Calgary Junior ITF 2019.

See more pictures by photographer Kyle Clapham.

Alberta juniors Martyna Ostrzygalo, Karin Hamilton, Hailey Murphy, Alexia Jacobs, Gianna Oboniye and Tyler Waddock are off to Victoria for another ITF event June 3-8.  Follow results here.

If you have an idea or content for a story, contact me at susan.wells@tennisalberta.com.

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