Team huddles and margherita pizzas: USA reach last four in Prostejov
At the end of a long but ultimately successful day, Team USA – girls, boys, captains Kathy Rinaldi and Jose Caballero as well as support staff – gathered in a huddle of celebration to review what had taken place.
The United States girls’ team had just navigated a potentially treacherous doubles showdown to edge past Brazil, with Capucine Jauffret and Shannon Lam joining forces to dispatch Victoria Barros and Leticia Marangoni 6-2 6-2.
That clash was the culmination of a topsy-turvy tie which had seen Jauffret overpower Pietra Rivoli 6-1 6-1 in the opening singles encounter before Barros outmanoeuvred Lam 6-4 1-6 6-3 in the second.
The American boys, who had earlier reached the semi-finals of their own draw after defeating Korea, Republic, were on hand to join the post-match celebrations and lock arms in jubilation.
“We’re just so proud of the boys and girls – Team USA,” Rinadli told itftennis.com. “We’ve been spending a lot of time together and the huddle is just a re-cap of the day and some motivation for each other.
“Everyone goes around the circle with a few words for each other – it was really special today. We try to do it most days but sometimes it is just the girls and sometimes just the boys, but today we were all able to celebrate together.
“I am just so proud of my girls. Capucine played some great tennis in both singles and doubles. Shannon had a really tough match, her opponent played really well so full credit to her, but Shannon regrouped, re-set and came out with that match behind her.
“Shannon came out with a lot of positivity, a great energy and her and Capucine played some really great tennis. We’re so happy.”
Another routine which Team USA have adopted on this trip is congregating in the dining room of their hotel of an evening to play cards and eat pizza – invariably margherita although Lam apparently prefers the mushroom option – and chicken wings.
No doubt that scenario will play out again this evening and why not, it is clearly proving successful as the United States girls chase a first ITF World Junior Tennis title since 2017.
Standing in their immediate path are Germany, who reached the semi-finals courtesy of a commanding 2-0 victory over Korea, Republic, with Sonja Zhenikhova and Julia Stusek recording singles wins over Heewon Ju and Haeum Lee respectively.
The other semi-final showdown will see top seeds Czech Republic draw swords with Slovakia. Czech Republic posted a 2-0 victory over No. 5 seeds Japan following singles triumphs for Laura Samsonova and Alena Kovackova.
Slovakia, meanwhile, sealed their place in the last four and are now within touching distance of silverware following a 2-1 success over Great Britain. Singles victories for Mia Pohankova and Sona Depesova rendered the doubles effectively meaningless.
All the results from day four of the 2022 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals are available here.