Charo Esquiva and Alexander Vasilev, new champions of the ITF J300 Memorial Eduardo Ferrero
The Alicante native is proclaimed champion of the most important international U18 tournament in Spain.
This Sunday the new champions of the ITF J300 Villena - Memorial Eduardo Ferrero were announced. The most important international U18 tournament in Spain closed its twenty- fifth edition with two high voltage matches. The public accompanied the players in the finals motivating them to show a high level despite the physical and mental exhaustion of competing in a tournament of such a high level, which had also been increased by the rain of the first days. The players had been forced to double up (play several matches per day) due to the storm.
The day began with the men’s final, where the high level of both contenders was reflected in a maximum equality throughout the first set. Already with 6 games in hand, the Moroccan Karim Bennani took a 5-1 lead in the tie break of the first set. On the other hand, the Bulgarian Alexander Vasilev kept the level and managed to equalize, 5-5. The Bulgarian, familiar of the professional tennis player Grigor Dimitrov managed to confirm the comeback with an ace in the 20th point of the tie-break, taking the first set by a very tight 7/6 (11-9).
The great equality and level of the young players in the first set led to a physical and mental decline on the part of Bennani. Vasilev took advantage of the situation, and with the motivation of having taken the first set he won with authority in the second set. 7/6 6/1 and his name is written next to others like Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, Giovanni Mpetshi or Alejandro Davidovich. A great omen for his future. Meanwhile, the women’s final began with a high level of Spanish Charo Esquiva. The Latvian Zeltina started a little stopped, but managed to overcome the initial 0-4 that had endorsed the Alicante. Charo managed to stop the rebellion and take the first set with a much tighter result than expected after the start. With the match more evenly matched than at the beginning Esquiva asserted her highly competitive ability to finally take it by 7/5 6/3. “This is still the beginning but I am very happy to compare myself with them. We continue to work little by little” said Charo after learning that several of the best current rackets of the circuit reached the final of this tournament: Paula Badosa, Dianara Kasatkina and Diana Schneider (As of today, the 11, 12, and 13 of the WTA ranking).
The awards ceremony was attended by Antonio Martinez Cascales, coach of Juan Carlos Ferrero and founder of the Ferrero Academy where the tournament takes place, the Councilor for Sports Maite Gandia and the President of the Tennis Federation of the Community Francisco Vicent. The tournament is called Memorial Eduardo Ferrero in honor of Juan Carlos Ferrero’s father, who passed away just during the 20th edition of this same championship. The champions received the trophy in the morning from his daughter Laura Ferrero in an emotional moment for the whole Ferrero family and the Academy team.