Petits As
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The Petits As (English: Small champions) is a premier junior tennis tournament for players aged 12-14. It is held in Tarbes, France. It is often considered to be the European equivalent of the Orange Bowl in Florida, United States due to the high number of international players that it attracts.
The event has seen a number of its champions go on to become slam winners, including Rafael Nadal, Michael Chang, Martina Hingis, and Kim Clijsters. Due to the relatively restrictive age range, few players have won the title more than once, although Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky have both done so. Most recently, upcoming Spanish player Carlos Boluda became the first boy to do so.
The tournament is played on indoor Green Set (hard) courts. Roughly 7,000 players enter the pre-qualifying tournaments held across France, with that number being narrowed down to 350 for the final qualifying stage, and 64 for the final tournament.[1] The event is regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and has businesses such as Head, Eurosport, Coca-Cola, and Peugeot amongst its portfolio of partners.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Results
[edit] Boys' singles
Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Jean-Baptiste Bolle | Jean-Manuel Naves | |
1984 | Frédéric Fontang | Miskolci | |
1985 | Richard Krajicek | Philippe Leblanc | |
1986 | Michael Chang | Johan Alvenn | |
1987 | Reinhard Wawra | David Klein | |
1988 | Brian Dunn | Julian Knowle | |
1989 | Tommy Shimada | Gonzalo Corrales | |
1990 | Maxime Boye | Magnus Norman | |
1991 | Răzvan Sabău | Juan Antonio Saiz | |
1992 | Olivier Mutis | Björn Rehnquist | |
1993 | Miha Gregorc | Dymitry Caradima | |
1994 | Juan-Carlos Ferrero | Fernando González | |
1995 | Olivier Rochus | Gasper Martinjak | |
1996 | Paul-Henri Mathieu | Todor Enev | |
1997 | Julien Maigret | Carlos Cuadrado | |
1998 | Matthew Smith | Mario Ančić | |
1999 | Richard Gasquet | Brian Baker | |
2000 | Rafael Nadal | Julien Gely | |
2001 | Alexandre Krasnoroutski | Andy Murray | |
2002 | Dylan Arnould | Robin Roshardt | |
2003 | Donald Young | Leo Rosenberg | |
2004 | Andrew Thomas | Vladimir Ignatic | |
2005 | Chase Buchanan | Lazare Kukhalashvili | 6-4, 4-6, 6-4[3] |
2006 | Carlos Boluda | Sebastian Lavie | 7-6, 6-3 |
2007 | Carlos Boluda | Christian Harrison | 6-2, 6-2 |
2008 | Edward Nguyen | Liam Broady | 6-4, 7-5 |
[edit] Girls' singles
Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Sybille Niox-Château | Cécile Bourdaix | |
1984 | Emmanuelle Derly | Alexia Dechaume | |
1985 | Sandrine Jacquet | Hanika Narbe | |
1986 | Laxima Poruri | Gruben | |
1987 | Kimberly Kessaris | Ursula Priller | |
1988 | Anke Huber | Katherine Denn Samuel | |
1989 | Nicole London | Zedna Malková | |
1990 | Heike Rusch | Lindsay Davenport | |
1991 | Martina Hingis | Dally Randriantefy | |
1992 | Martina Hingis | Rita Kuti-Kis | |
1993 | Stephanie Hallsell | Rika Vidats | |
1994 | Anna Kournikova | Stephanie Kovacik | |
1995 | Mirjana Lučić | Justine Henin | |
1996 | Jelena Pandzić | Melissa Middleton | |
1997 | Kim Clijsters | Elena Bovina | |
1998 | Lina Krasnoroutskaya | Caroline Raba | |
1999 | Bethanie Mattek | Mateas Mezac | |
2000 | Dinara Safina | Lina Stanciute | |
2001 | Vojislava Lukić | Jarmila Gajdošová | |
2002 | Timea Bacsinszky | Alisa Kleybanova | |
2003 | Timea Bacsinszky | Ioana Raluca Olaru | |
2004 | Yelena Kulikova | Tamira Paszek | |
2005 | Ksenia Pervak | Gracia Radovanovic | |
2006 | Gabriela Dabrowski | Anna Arina Marenko | 6-3, 6-4[4] |
2007 | Anna Orlik | Nicole Gibbs | 6-4, 6-1 |
2008 | Daria Gavrilova | Laura Robson | 6-3, 6-3 |
[edit] Exhibitions
The tournament often features retired and/or active players making appearances in exhibition matches in the evening preceding the final day of play. It is common for upcoming and veteran French players to be present. In recent tournaments, players present have included:
- 2004: Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte.
- 2005: Juan Carlos Ferrero (a former champion) and David Nalbandian, who replaced compatriot and French Open champion Gastón Gaudio at the last minute.
- 2006: Rafael Nadal and Fabrice Santoro.
- 2007: Richard Gasquet and Gaël Monfils.
- 2008: Fabrice Santoro and Marc Gicquel, after Paul-Henri Mathieu and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew. Mathieu, who had injured himself at the 2008 Australian Open, signed autographs instead.
[edit] References
- ^ INTRODUCTION Logistic and Budget. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
- ^ Partners. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
- ^ Milano, Sally (2005-12-19). Buchanan Sweeps at Les Petits As; Muhammad, Augustine Win in Doubles. Juniors: 2005 Year in Review. United States Tennis Association. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
- ^ Ontario Girls Win in Europe. Ontario Tennis. Ontario Tennis Association (2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
[edit] External links
- Les Petits As website (French) (English)
- 2008 Boys' Singles draw
- 2008 Girls' Singles draw