Vukovic becomes the 10th French player to win the Petits As, Dotsenko wins the women’s title

France may have its future champion. Mario Vukovic, 13, became the tenth French player to win the Petits As tournament, the unofficial world championship for under-14s, on Sunday. In the final, he easily dominated the American Tristan Ascenzo in two sets and 57 minutes of play, coming through 6-1, 6-0.

“I was a little more stressed than usual but that’s normal, it’s a final,” said the Frenchman after his victory. “I respected the game plan, I’m very happy with this victory. But it’s not a dream for me to win here, my goal is to win big titles later.”

The suspense lasted only one game, when Ascenzo broke Vukovic to lead 1-0. He didn’t know it at the time, but it would be the last game scored by the American in the contest. On the other hand, the Frenchman immediately reacted by erasing his break deficit, helped by his powerful groundstrokes.

Vukovic succeeds Roumane 

Quickly overwhelmed, Ascenzo gradually resigned himself, unable to deal with the attacking shots of his opponent, who was better than him in all areas of the game. After conceding the first set 6-1, the American was unable to react. Vukovic was adamant not to let Ascenzo believe that a comeback was possible in this game.

After match point, the Frenchman collapsed to the ground to celebrate this magnificent victory. Having not lost a single set this week, Vukovic succeeds the American Michael Antonius on the list of winners. He is also the first French player since Rayane Roumane in 2014 to win the Petits As title.

Dotsenko continues Russian stranglehold

In the girls’ competition, Ekaterina Dotsenko concluded her superb week with a victory at the Petits As. After beating number one seed Megan Knight in the quarter-finals, the 13-year-old followed up with a win over number two seed Darina Matvejeva in the final (6-3, 6-4).

This is the third year in a row that a Russian player has won the Petits As tournament. Dotsenko succeeds her compatriot Mariia Makarova and also becomes the twelfth representative of her country to add her name to the tournament’s list of winners.

Dotsenko and Matvejeva offered the Tarbes put on a great show in the final. The Russian had more to offer on court, however. She was able to take advantage of the opponent’s weakness on serve and her defensive game to propel herself to a great victory.

“I’m very tired, it was a tough battle on the court today, I had already lost to her recently so I’m very happy to have been able to take my revenge today,” she said following victory. If they continue on this path, Mario Vukovic and Ekaterina Dotsenko promise to have very bright futures.