Marin Cilic-new hope for croatian tennis

IvanOle said:

In near future he will be among best players of world.
And there is still young talents in Croatia to make there apearence on world tennis stage.

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Week 1 Boys Singles - Main Draw

1st Round

Jérémy CHARDY (FRA) defeated Yuya TOMISAKI (JPN) 60 63
Junn MITSUHASHI (JPN) defeated Tatsuma ITO (JPN) 26 63 63
Yannick THOMET (SUI) defeated Takao OHNO (JPN) 63 62
Genki TOMITA (JPN) defeated Shuhei UZAWA (JPN) 16 64 60
Jiri KOSLER (CZE) defeated Tetta OYAMA (JPN) 761 60
Carl SUNDBERG (NOR) defeated Takuto NIKI (JPN) 63 64
Hsien-Yin PENG (TPE) defeated Takaya FUTAMURA (JPN) 61 64
Yuichi SUGITA (JPN) defeated Alberto GONZALEZ (PAN) 61 67 62
Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) defeated Peraklat SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 61 61
Edward BOURCHIER (AUS) defeated Kazuya ONO (JPN) 63 64
Hiroki MORIYA (JPN) defeated Viju GEORGE (USA) 57 767 62
Xiao-Peng LAI (HKG) defeated Yoshimasa HOSHIBA (JPN) 60 60
Kei NISHIKORI (JPN) defeated Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) 60 61
Hikaru KINJO (JPN) defeated Tomoya IJU (JPN) 63 62
Yann MARTI (SUI) defeated Toshiya SUZUKI (JPN) 64 63
Faisal AIDIL (INA) defeated Kishi WATANABE (JPN) 62 64
Sho AIDA (JPN) defeated Hiromasa OKU (JPN) 63 62
Hayato MATSUDA (JPN) defeated Yuichi HASEGAWA (JPN) 75 46 60
Shota IINO (JPN) defeated Ronald CHOW (HKG) 46 63 63
Martin KAMENIK (CZE) defeated Yuki MATSUO (JPN) 61 63
Jason JUNG (USA) defeated Ayrton WIBOWO (INA) 63 62
Peerachat CHAIYAPAN (THA) defeated Bassam BEIDAS (LIB) 26 761 60
Rasmus MOLLER (DEN) defeated Shinta FUJII (JPN) 763 61
Hsin-Han LEE (TPE) defeated Halvar DIL (NED) 64 61
James LEMKE (AUS) defeated Koichi SANO (JPN) 63 60
Austen CHILDS (NZL) defeated Kazuki KAZEHAYA (JPN) 60 61
Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) defeated Kazuma KOBAYASHI (JPN) 63 64
Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) defeated Kittipong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA) 64 46 62
Dylan 'Loic' SESSAGESIMI (SUI) defeated Roman JEBAVY (CZE) 60 63
Ryohei TAKANOHASHI (JPN) defeated Jeong Han SEO (KOR) 62 63
Tadayuki LONGHI (JPN) defeated Agung-Bagus DEWANTORO (INA) 46 64 62
Marin CILIC (CRO) defeated Fumiaki KITA (JPN) 75 62

2nd Round

Jérémy CHARDY (FRA) defeated Junn MITSUHASHI (JPN) 62 63
Yannick THOMET (SUI) defeated Genki TOMITA (JPN) 46 62 75
Jiri KOSLER (CZE) defeated Carl SUNDBERG (NOR) 46 63 60
Yuichi SUGITA (JPN) defeated Hsien-Yin PENG (TPE) 60 62
Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) defeated Edward BOURCHIER (AUS) 63 63
Xiao-Peng LAI (HKG) defeated Hiroki MORIYA (JPN) 62 62
Kei NISHIKORI (JPN) defeated Hikaru KINJO (JPN) 63 60
Yann MARTI (SUI) defeated Faisal AIDIL (INA) 57 62 61
Sho AIDA (JPN) defeated Hayato MATSUDA (JPN) 62 61
Martin KAMENIK (CZE) defeated Shota IINO (JPN) 60 63
Jason JUNG (USA) defeated Peerachat CHAIYAPAN (THA) 60 36 63
Hsin-Han LEE (TPE) defeated Rasmus MOLLER (DEN) 75 63
James LEMKE (AUS) defeated Austen CHILDS (NZL) 75 64
Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) defeated Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) 64 64
Dylan 'Loic' SESSAGESIMI (SUI) defeated Ryohei TAKANOHASHI (JPN) 61 61
Marin CILIC (CRO) defeated Tadayuki LONGHI (JPN) 60 61

3th Round


Jérémy CHARDY (FRA) defeated Yannick THOMET (SUI) 61 64
Yuichi SUGITA (JPN) defeated Jiri KOSLER (CZE) 46 763 61
Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) defeated Xiao-Peng LAI (HKG) 46 764 60
Kei NISHIKORI (JPN) defeated Yann MARTI (SUI) 63 61
Sho AIDA (JPN) defeated Martin KAMENIK (CZE) 75 63
Jason JUNG (USA) defeated Hsin-Han LEE (TPE) 62 75
James LEMKE (AUS) defeated Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 36 63 62
Marin CILIC (CRO) defeated Dylan 'Loic' SESSAGESIMI (SUI) 75 60

Quarterfinal

Jérémy CHARDY (FRA) defeated Yuichi SUGITA (JPN) 46 64 75
Kei NISHIKORI (JPN) defeated Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) 62 64
Sho AIDA (JPN) defeated Jason JUNG (USA) 75 63
Marin CILIC (CRO) defeated James LEMKE (AUS) 63 64

Semifinal

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Week 1 Boys Doubles - Main Draw

1st Round

CHARDY (FRA) / CILIC (CRO) defeated OHNO (JPN) / TAKANOHASHI (JPN) 60 60
ITO (JPN) / UZAWA (JPN) defeated IJU (JPN) / KINJO (JPN) 63 764
BEIDAS (LIB) / DEWANTORO (INA) defeated DIL (NED) / OYAMA (JPN) 62 63
AIDIL (INA) / WIBOWO (INA) defeated IINO (JPN) / MATSUO (JPN) 75 762
MORIYA (JPN) / WATANABE (JPN) defeated GONZALEZ (PAN) / KAMENIK (CZE) 765 61
LEE (TPE) / PENG (TPE) defeated FUTAMURA (JPN) / KAMIYA (JPN) 62 64
LONGHI (JPN) / ONOZAWA (JPN) defeated KOBAYASHI (JPN) / SUZUKI (JPN) 60 61
AIDA (JPN) / SUGITA (JPN) defeated SESSAGESIMI (SUI) / THOMET (SUI) 61 62
KITA (JPN) / TAKEUCHI (JPN) defeated GEORGE (USA) / JUNG (USA) 36 64 766
BOURCHIER (AUS) / CHILDS (NZL) defeated SANO (JPN) / SHIBUTANI (JPN) 64 63
MOLLER (DEN) / SUNDBERG (NOR) defeated KAZEHAYA (JPN) / NIKI (JPN) 62 61
JEBAVY (CZE) / KOSLER (CZE) defeated CHAIYAPAN (THA) / WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA) 62 61
CHOW (HKG) / LAI (HKG) defeated SHINOKAWA (JPN) / SUGIMOTO (JPN) 64 60
FUJII (JPN) / OKU (JPN) defeated HASEGAWA (JPN) / TOMITA (JPN) 765 26 61
MARTI (SUI) / SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) defeated ONO (JPN) / TOMISAKI (JPN) 64 57 62
MITSUHASHI (JPN) / NISHIKORI (JPN) defeated LEMKE (AUS) / NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) 75 62

2nd Round

CHARDY (FRA) / CILIC (CRO) defeated ITO (JPN) / UZAWA (JPN) 63 64
BEIDAS (LIB) / DEWANTORO (INA) defeated AIDIL (INA) / WIBOWO (INA) 54
LEE (TPE) / PENG (TPE) defeated MORIYA (JPN) / WATANABE (JPN) 60 64
AIDA (JPN) / SUGITA (JPN) defeated LONGHI (JPN) / ONOZAWA (JPN) 63 46 75
KITA (JPN) / TAKEUCHI (JPN) defeated BOURCHIER (AUS) / CHILDS (NZL) 36 762 762
JEBAVY (CZE) / KOSLER (CZE) defeated MOLLER (DEN) / SUNDBERG (NOR) 63 46 61
CHOW (HKG) / LAI (HKG) defeated FUJII (JPN) / OKU (JPN) 64 64
MITSUHASHI (JPN) / NISHIKORI (JPN) defeated MARTI (SUI) / SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 63 75

Quarterfinal

CHARDY (FRA) / CILIC (CRO) defeated BEIDAS (LIB) / DEWANTORO (INA) 62 75
LEE (TPE) / PENG (TPE) defeated AIDA (JPN) / SUGITA (JPN) 62 62
JEBAVY (CZE) / KOSLER (CZE) defeated KITA (JPN) / TAKEUCHI (JPN) 765 64
MITSUHASHI (JPN) / NISHIKORI (JPN) defeated CHOW (HKG) / LAI (HKG) 62 760


Semifinal

CHARDY (FRA) / CILIC (CRO) defeated LEE (TPE) / PENG (TPE) 764 75
JEBAVY (CZE) / KOSLER (CZE) defeated MITSUHASHI (JPN) / NISHIKORI (JPN) 64 62

Final
CHARDY (FRA) / CILIC (CRO) vs JEBAVY (CZE) / KOSLER (CZE)

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Osaka Mayor's Cup Underway in Japan
12 Oct 2005 - Helen McFetridge

With most of the world’s top juniors having taken a break or turned their attentions towards improving their professional rankings since the US Open, the race for the year-end top spots got underway again this week in Osaka, Japan, with the Grade A Osaka Mayor’s Cup – World Super Junior Tennis Championships. With two Grade A events left to play in 2005, everything could change at the top of the rankings by the end of the year, and many of the world’s best junior players are here in search of vital points.

In the girls’ event, Viktoria Azarenka will be looking to cement her place as year-end number one as she goes after her third Grade A title of 2005. She made an excellent start to her campaign with an emphatic 60 60 win over Japan’s Juri Fukushima in the first round, but she was not the only one to get off to a flying start. The top five seeds in the girls’ singles lost just five games between them in the first round, with local favourite Ayumi Morita, seeded four, and Russian fifth seed Maria Mosolova both winning 60 60 against Yoko Arai and Ayumi Yoshida respectively. Others aiming to challenge Azarenka in the latter stages of the tournament are second seed Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), a 60 62 winner over Japan’s Miho Ishida, and third seeded Romanian Raluca Olaru, who came through 61 62 against Swiss player Stéphanie Vogèle. All in all, it was a successful start to the tournament for the girls’ seeds, as all 16 went through to round two.

In the second round, it was more of the same from the top seeds as Azarenka brushed aside Saori Karikomi 62 60 and Wozniacki defeated Katarina Tuohimaa without any problems, 61 63. Mosolova, in contrast to her first-round whitewash, had to recover from a disastrous start before edging past Yurina Koshino 16 76(4) 64. Two other seeds, however, didn't make it into the last 16, with number seven Stéphanie Herz (NED) crashing out 76(3) 62 to Shiho Akita and Emiko Ito, seeded 13, eventually succumbing 36 62 76(2) to fellow countrywoman Mahiko Kozawa.

The boys’ singles features two players hoping to close the gap on Donald Young at the top of the world rankings, with both France’s Jérémy Chardy and Croatian Marin Cilic hoping to take advantage of the fact that Young and world number two Ryan Sweeting are playing in the Pan-American Closed Championships in the USA this week rather than in Osaka. Top seed Chardy, the world number 3, had a straightforward win over Yuya Tomisaki in round one, while second seed Cilic, ranked two spots and just 26.5 points behind him, was stretched in the first set against Fumiaki Kita before coming through 75 62.

With no other members of the top twenty in action in Osaka, Chardy and Cilic are strong favourites to meet in the final. However, several lower ranked players will be keen to take advantage of the lack of stars and get the chance to give their ranking a boost, none more so than ninth seeded Japanese 15-year-old Kei Nishikori. Nishikori has yet to get beyond the last 16 of a Grade A event, but he will be hoping to go a few rounds better here in front of the Japanese fans. He made an impressive start with a 60 61 win over fellow Japanese Shuichi Sekiguchi, and will be hoping to continue his good form in the next round. He also had a successful start to his doubles campaign, partnering Junn Mitsuhashi to victory over the second seeds James Lemke and Jeevan Neduncheziyan and following it up with another win to reach the quarter-finals. The highest Japanese seed in the boys' singles, number six Sho Aida, also came through his first match unscathed, 63 62 over Hiromasa Oku.

There was not such good news for another Japanese seed in the boys’ singles, as number 13 Shuhei Uzawa was defeated 16 64 60 by his countryman Genki Tomita. Another seed to fall in the opening round was number eight Alberto Gonzalez of Panama, who went down 61 67 (12) 62 to Yuuichi Sugita.

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Top seeds all through in Osaka
13 Oct 2005 - Helen McFetridge

It was business as usual today for the top seeds in the Osaka Mayor’s Cup in Japan, with the favourites in both the boys’ and girls’ events sailing through to the quarter-finals.

From the moment the draw was announced, junior tennis fans will have been eagerly anticipating the prospect of a final between world number 3 and Wimbledon champion Jérémy Chardy of France, and the Croatian Roland Garros champion Marin Cilic, ranked 5. Both continued their smooth progression through the draw, Chardy winning 61 64 against Genki Tomita and Cilic coming through 75 60 against Dylan Sessagesimi, having earlier in the day dismissed Tadaycki Longhi 60 61. In the quarters, Cilic will take on Australian 5th seed James Lemke, while Chardy faces the only unseeded player left in the draw, Japan’s Yuuichi Sugita. Sugita followed up his win over 8th seed Alberto Gonzalez with another impressive victory, this time in three sets over 10th seeded Czech Jiri Kosler. The 17-year-old was a quarter-finalist here last year, and will be hoping he can go one better when he faces Chardy tomorrow.

Although Chardy and Cilic are firm favourites to reach the final on Sunday, the other quarter-finalists will be trying to create a shock tomorrow. Third seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan is still in the running, although he had some nervous moments before finding his form in the third set to defeat Xiao-Peng Lao 46 76(4) 60. He next plays Japanese 15-year-old Kei Nishikori, who has been hitting top form this week. The 9th seed has dropped just 8 games in his three matches so far, and may well fancy his chances against Nedunchezhiyan. His fellow Japanese Sho Aida, the 6th seed, is also still in the hunt after beating Martin Kamenik 75 63 to set up a clash with American 16th seed Jason Jung, who accounted for 4th seed Hsin-Han Lee in the last 16. Jung won the Grade 2 China Junior Open last month, so he is in good form and will be hoping to continue his winning streak.

In the girls’ singles, it looks like the rest of the field will have a tough time stopping top seed and world number one Viktoria Azarenka. Azarenka swept past 15th seed Maya Gaverova 62 62, to bring her total number of games lost to six in three matches. Several of the other top girls have also been in dominant form in the tournament, with 2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki, 3rd seed Raluca Olaru and local favourite Ayumi Morita, seeded 4, all winning easily today. Wozniacki, the defending champion, will not want to let her title go without a fight. She has an excellent record in Japan, winning the Grade 1 Japan Open Junior Championships earlier this year. Morita too has a good record in front of her home fans, losing in the Japan Open final to Wozniacki, and she will be keen to go all the way in this event. And Olaru, who has already beaten Morita twice this year, can’t be counted out either.

Eight of the top nine seeds have made it through to the girls’ quarters, with the only upset in the last 16 coming when 12th seed Ellen Barry knocked out number 6 Ling Zhang 64 64. Barry next faces Morita, with Azarenka to play 9th seed Erika Sema, Wozniacki taking on 5th seed Maria Mosolova and Olaru up against 8th seed Wing-Yau Venise Chan.


In doubles action, the top seeded boys’ pair of Chardy and Cilic is still going strong, easing their way into the quarter finals without dropping a set. In the girls’ event, top seeds Wozniacki and Olaru were stunned by Japanese pair Akari Inoue and Yurina Koshino, 60 26 76(3). Their defeat leaves as favourites another Japanese pair, Morita and Sema, who were straightforward 62 63 winners over Takako Matsushige and Yumi Nakano.

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Japanese Juniors Eye Osaka Mayor’s Cup
14 Oct 2005 - Will Fletcher

At the beginning of the week all eyes focused on the top two boys seeds as there was much talk about the probable final match up of Jérémy Chardy of France and Croatia’s Marin Cilic, as both make a last ditch effort to catch current World No.1 Donald Young (USA) and be crowned Junior World Champion in the New Year. If there was any mention of Japanese players it was probably due to their sheer number as 34 boys and 46 girls from Japan stepped onto court for the first round of the maindraw.

The players stuck to the script once again today at the Utsubo Tennis Centre as both Chardy and Cilic advanced to the last four. The Roland Garros Champion from Croatia faced his toughest test of the week against the fifth seeded Australian James Lemke but the result was never in doubt as the big hitter from Zagreb won comfortably 63 64. Surprisingly Chardy, this year’s Wimbledon Champion and US Open finalist, had a much tougher workout against the last unseeded player in the draw, Yuichi Sugita from Japan. If the top seed was not rattled, he was certainly forced to reassert himself after going one set down in order to overcome his opponent (46 64 75) ranked a modest 161 in the world.

However, while Chardy and Cilic have been stealing the headlines, the Japanese pair of Kei Nishikori and Sho Aida have progressed methodically to meet them in the semifinals. Nishikori, a promising member of the Nick Bolletieri academy in Florida, played well to knock out third seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of India 62 64 while Aida accounted for Jason Jung of USA 75 63. One would presume that this is as far as these players will progress with two giants of the Junior game obstructing their route to the final. However, tomorrow there is an opportunity for these two players to take a major scalp and be just one match from the most prestigious trophy in Japanese Junior tennis. At the very least this provides a chance to play without pressure and regain some ground on the top players, particularly for fifteen year old Nishikori who was beaten by Chardy 75 61 in the third round of US Open.

Although Nishikori and Aida will be driven by their home support, it would be naïve to believe that Chardy and Cilic will be complacent. Both have travelled to Japan focused on gaining valuable ranking points at the penultimate Grade A of the year in a final attempt to catch the US prodigy Donald Young in the Combined Junior rankings. They have even joined forces in the doubles competition to earn as many points as possible and squeezed through their semifinal by defeating the Japanese duo of Hsin-Han Lee and Hsien Yin Peng 76(4) 75 earlier today. In tomorrow’s final they will take on the Czech pair of Roman Jebavy and Jiri Kosler who are fresh from their recent Junior Davis Cup final campaign in Barcelona where they played well to finish runners up to France.

Ayumi Morita has matched the Japanese boys’ feat by beating New Zealand’s Ellen Barry 64 63 for a place in tomorrow’s girls’ singles semifinals. She will play defending Champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark who drifted during her match against Maria Mosolova but came back emphatically to win 75 16 61. In the top half of the draw the current World No.1 continued on her unwavering pursuit of yet another title. This time home favourite Erika Sema experienced the brunt of Viktoria Azarenka’s all out attack going down promptly 61 61. As expected the Belarusian will face Romania’s Raluca Olaru for a place in the final after the third seed defeated Hong Kong’s Wing-Yau Venise Chan 76(5) 60.

The girls doubles final will be a celebration of Japanese tennis as second seeds Morita and Sema take on the unseeded pair of Akari Inoue and Yurina Koshino tomorrow.

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