After being out of the Junior circuit since December of last year, with very little competitive tennis since that, Jose Pereira recently returned to the Junior scene with considerable success. First he repeated at the Asuncion Bowl, then fell short at the Banana Bowl like last year and also in keeping with last year: captured the Copa Gerdau. However, this year it required considerably more effort, since he only lost one set last year, while he only won in straight sets in the first of his 6 encounters on the way to the title. Facundo Arguello, Gianni Mina, Christian Lindell, Filip Horansky and finalist Tennys Sandgren all managed to wrestle a set out of the hands of the Brazilian, who showed incredible determination and willpower to overcome these setbacks. However, since Pereira did not perform as well in the doubles tournament as he did last year, he will actually lose points, which could actually cost him one place in the Junior rankings. Pereira’s opponent in the final, surprising American Tennys Sandgren does make a leap forward, rising from 40th to a career high ranking just outside the top 20.

After last week’s semifinal loss to eventual winner Camila Silva at the Banana Bowl, Croatian Silvia Njiric was considered to be no more than a pretender to the title. But despite a small hiccup in her second round match against Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova, Njiric cruised to the title. Top seed Kristina Mladenovic was dispatched in straight sets in the quarterfinals and 11th seed Aleksandra Krunic also posed very little threat in the semifinals. In the final 7th seeded Jana Cepelova, also a surprising finalist, quickly relinquished the first set, but showed that she was worthy of a spot in the final in the second set, pushing Njiric to a tie-break. In the tie-break the 15-year old Croatian just edged Cepelova, taking it 9-7. Besides a considerable boost in ranking, which will most likely end just outside or just inside the Junior top 10, Njiric will increase her reputation significantly, making her an early candidate for the Roland Garros Junior title. For Cepelova it was also a very fruitful week, which helps her improve her ranking to somewhere inside the top 20.

Quarterfinal boys results Copa Gerdau:

Filip Horansky (SVK,12) d. Guilherme Clezar (BRA) 6-3 6-4
Jose Pereira (BRA,3) d. Christian Lindell (SWE) 1-6 6-1 7-6(6)
Tennys Sandgren (USA,10) d. Agustin Velotti (ARG,4) 4-6 6-3 6-3
Julien Obry (FRA,2) d. Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 6-4 1-6 7-5

Semifinal boys results Copa Gerdau:

Jose Pereira (BRA,3) d. Filip Horansky (SVK,12) 6-7(7) 6-1 6-1
Tennys Sandgren (USA,10) d. Julien Obry (FRA,2) 0-6 6-2 6-2

Final boys result Copa Gerdau:

Jose Pereira (BRA,3) d. Tennys Sandgren (USA,10) 4-6 6-1 6-4

Profile Jose Pereira:

Birthdate: 26-01-1991
Birthplace: Santano do Ipanemo, Brazil
Residence: Bol. Combouir, Brazil
Plays: Right handed (two-handed backhand)
Favourite surface: Clay
Age started tennis: 9
Junior titles:  7 (2006: Till Tennis Cup (Grade 5); 2007: Bahia Open (Grade 5); 2008: Condor de Plata (Grade 2), Asuncion Bowl (Grade 1), Copa Gerdau (Grade A); 2009: Asuncion Bowl (Grade 1), Copa Gerdau (Grade A))
Career high position: 4 (2 February 2009)
Career high ATP ranking: 996 (23 March 2009)

Quarterfinal girls results Copa Gerdau:

Silvia Njiric (CRO,5) d. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA,1) 6-4 6-3
Aleksandra Krunic (SRB,11) d. Akiko Omae (JPN) 6-2 6-2
Jana Cepelova (SVK,7) d. Camila Silva (CHI,3) 6-2 6-4
Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) d. Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 6-4 6-4
 
Semifinal girls results Copa Gerdau:

Silvia Njiric (CRO,5) d. Aleksandra Krunic (SRB,11) 6-3 6-1
Jana Cepelova (SVK,7) d. Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) 6-3 6-0

Final girls result Copa Gerdau:

Silvia Njiric (CRO,5) d. Jana Cepelova (SVK,7) 6-3 7-6(7)

Profile Silvia Njiric:

Birthdate: 09-07-1993
Birthplace: Zagreb, Croatia
Residence: Zagreb, Croatia
Plays: Right handed (two-handed backhand)
Favourite surface: Hard
Age started tennis: 6
Junior titles:  7 (2007: Mostar Open (Grade 5); 2008: High Coast Juniors (Grade 3), Kramfors Junior Challenge (Grade 4); 2009: Copa Gerdau (Grade A))
Career high position (before Copa Gerdau): 31 (23 March 2009)
Career high WTA ranking: 900 (9 March 2009)