Tennis Europe Press Release, November 18, 2023
Daniel Baranes of Israel and Mario Vukovic of France are the winners of the third edition of the Tennis Europe 12 & Under Festival, which took place at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in Manacor, Mallorca from 13-18 November.
The invitational event sees the top European boys and girls of this age group end their Junior Tour seasons at a unique competition held in a true ‘festival’ atmosphere.
Final Results:
12 & Under Boys: Mario Vukovic (FRA) d. Max Lorincik (SVK) 6-4 6-3
12 & Under Girls: Daniel Baranes (ISR) d. Megan Knight (GBR) 7-5 6-7(2) (12-10)
Boys Doubles: Thomas Grévoul & Mario Vukovic (FRA) d. Mikael Lehtinen (FIN) & Francisco Sardinha (POR) 3-6 6-3 (12-10)
Girls Doubles: Grace Bernstein (SWE) & Megan Knight (GBR) d. Daniel Baranes (ISR) & Lou Sciacaluga (FRA) 6-2 6-3
2023 Edition
- In 2023, the 64 competitors combined to win 83 singles titles on the Junior Tour
- The eight semi-finalists (4 boys, 4 girls) represented eight different Tennis Europe member nations: France, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden
- The event was broadcast live on tenniseurope.org, and on the Junior Tour app. Well over 7,000 individual users around the world watched matches in just the first three days of the tournament
- Amongst the special events during the week was an Opening Ceremony featuring a Question-and-Answer session with Toni Nadal, who had plenty of advice for the players and coaches, with whom he also posed for photographs
- Players were able to benefit from the on-site Athlete Performance Center. Representatives from the facility in Salzburg, Austria were on hand to assist players with maximising their potential and performance
- Following the close of play on Saturday, the finalists were greeted by their host and hero: none other than Rafa Nadal. The former world #1 congratulated the players on their performances, expressed his hope that they had enjoyed their time at the facilities, and encouraged them to keep working hard in the future
The Finalists
- Both singles champions add Tennis Europe’s premier 12&U individual title to the Summer Cups team titles won back in August
- Having played on the first Israeli team ever to win a European junior team title, Daniel Baranes now becomes the first Israeli champion of the 12&U Festival
- In the semi-finals, Baranes ended Darina Matvejeva’s unbeaten season, inflicting the Latvian’s first loss in 47 singles matches
- Runner-up Megan Knight is already a winner on the 14 & Under circuit, having claimed the Cat.2 Maribor title in summer
- Mario Vukovic wins his second singles and fourth doubles title on the 12 & Under circuit
- Max Lorincik reached five singles finals in 2023 (winning three) and four doubles finals (winning two)
