The new champion in the Men’s Singles event at the European Under 21 Championships is Flavien COTON of France. In a breathtaking final in Bratislava, he overcame Iulian CHIRITA of Romania to claim the title. Bronze medals were awarded to Miguel PANTOJA of Spain and, for the second consecutive year, to the no. 2 seed Andre BERTELSMEIER of Germany, who was again stopped in the semi-finals. COTON went the full distance to defeat CHIRITA, completing an incredible comeback after trailing 0–2 in games and 4–7 in the deciding set (16-18, 8-11, 11-1, 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9). “Already the opening game was incredible. I lost it 16-18, then he took the second to make it 2-0. After that, I played three amazing games and led 3-2 and 6-3 in the sixth, but I lost it 6-11! Then in the final game it was 7-4 for him, and I turned it to 10-7 for me. I managed it because I was mentally very strong. As I said before, that’s the strongest part of my game,” said COTON. In the semi-finals, the no. 3 seed COTON faced heavy pressure from Miguel PANTOJA. The Spaniard, seeded no. 23, proved his presence in the final four was no coincidence. COTON was once again stretched to seven games (12-14, 11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4). “He played amazingly. At 1-1 I was up 10-7 and lost the third game. If I had made it 2-1, it would have been a much different match,” said COTON. The final game was another close battle. “I didn’t start well. It was 0-2 for PANTOJA before I managed to raise my level and play better and better. My technical game at the table wasn’t at the highest level, but mentally I was very strong. I stayed focused and kept my good mental shape,” added COTON. Iulian CHIRITA advanced to the final after a tough match against Andre BERTELSMEIER, which he won in six games (11-8, 12-10, 3-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7). “It’s very difficult to play against Andre. He’s improved a lot over the past two years, so I carefully planned my tactics. In the first two games it worked very well, but then BERTELSMEIER changed his approach and made it very hard for me. I tried to stay focused and not get nervous, although I definitely was after losing the two middle games,” said CHIRITA. BERTELSMEIER pushed CHIRITA to the limit, even though the Romanian had the better start in most games. “He never gives up, and neither do I. That’s why the match was so difficult. We have very similar styles—he plays many balls to the table just like I do.”

Anna HURSEY of Wales clinched gold in the Women’s Singles event at the European Under 21 Championships in Bratislava by defeating the reigning champion Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine. The bronze medallists are Ioana SINGEORZAN and Elena ZAHARIA, both of Romania. Nineteen-year-old HURSEY overcame MATIUNINA in five games (11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9) in superb fashion. “I think it was a very close and tough final. I played quite well. Maybe I made a few mistakes I shouldn’t have, but I’m happy I got through it. Stylistically it was difficult for me, since MATIUNINA has much more experience, but in the end, I found a way,” said HURSEY. “It’s great that I won it for Wales, because normally we don’t have so many strong results. I’m happy I could win this for Wales.” In the semi-final earlier today, HURSEY showed no mercy against Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania, winning in straight games (11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5). “We’ve played a few times before. Two years ago at the European Under 21, also in the semi-final, she beat me in a really close match. I also lost once to her at a WTT Feeder event, so this was my first win against her,” HURSEY explained. “I’ve been playing really well recently and I’m happy I won this one. We analyzed her game in detail, but more than anything, my level of play right now is really high.” In a rematch of last year’s final, the 2022 champion and 2023 runner-up Elena ZAHARIA stretched reigning champion Veronika MATIUNINA to a full seven games, but once again the Ukrainian player prevailed (11-8, 11-6, 3-11, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8). “The most important thing for me was to stay calm no matter what was happening, because Elena is a very dangerous player,” said MATIUNINA. “Our matches are always close. I knew it would be a long match, and even if I built a big lead, it wouldn’t be enough. ZAHARIA is very smart and always finds a way to adapt and change her tactics to win.” That’s exactly what happened in the semi-final. “Elena was down 0-2. I was leading without much difficulty in the opening stages. Then suddenly, I had no answers. She came back and leveled. At 2-2, it was really important for me to win the fifth game,” MATIUNINA continued. “Unfortunately, I faced another setback in the decider. ZAHARIA took an early lead, and my coach Krisztina TOTH called for a time-out. That was a crucial moment. We managed to break the momentum and turn the game around completely.”

Eduard IONESCU and Darius MOVILEANU of Romania overcame Andre BERTELSMEIER of Germany and Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal in the final of the European Under 21 Championships to claim the title in the Men’s Doubles event. The semi-finalists were Croatia’s Leon BENKO and Ivan HENCL, and Romania’s Iulian CHIRITA and Andrei ISTRATE—bronze medallists from 2024. Last year’s runners-up, IONESCU and MOVILEANU, dropped only one game in the final against the Portuguese-German combination, securing a 3-1 victory (11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6). “It was a close and tough final, just like all the matches here,” said IONESCU. “Last year we were runners-up and came to Bratislava with the mindset that this time we had to win. It was very hard from the beginning. We faced serious challenges in the quarterfinals against Daniel BERZOSA and Miguel PANTOJA of Spain, and again in the semis against Leon BENKO and Ivan HENCL… but those matches gave us confidence and prepared us for what awaited us in the final.” IONSCU also praised the performance of BERTELSMEIER and ABIODUN, who had beaten their Romanian teammates CHIRITA and ISTRATE in the semi-finals. “They beat our teammates, which says a lot about their level. I’m really happy to have clinched the title in the end and to say goodbye to my Under 21 career in golden style.” Darius MOVILEANU added: “We prepared our tactics with our teammates and coach. We played almost perfectly—more precisely, Edi played unbelievably well. I was under a bit of stress, because I played about 15 matches here. It’s not easy to play the final after such a schedule, especially against those two guys—they’re an exceptionally strong pair. But so are we.” MOVILEANU reflected on the overall challenge of the tournament: “We were challenged throughout. The match against the Spanish pair was especially tough. We were 2-0 up, and they came back to level—it was incredibly close.”

The newly formed pairing of Anna HURSEY of Wales and Mia GRIESEL of Germany end reign of last year’s champions—experienced teammates and clubmates Elena ZAHARIA and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania—to claim the title in the Women’s Doubles Event at the European Under 21 Championships in Bratislava. Bronze medals went to the top-seeded duo Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia and Ioana SINGEORZAN of Romania, as well as to the Polish team of Zuzanna WIELGOS and Anna BRZYSKA. The defending champions were unable to find control, while HURSEY and GRIESEL—who had only played together once before, in Metz—maintained their rhythm and secured the title with a straight-games victory (11-7, 11-9, 11-4). “Like I said yesterday, our communication is our main strength. We had a clear plan from the beginning. We talked about what we wanted, which balls suited us best, so the other one would know how to play to get the most out of our doubles game. We tried to make it as comfortable as possible. We weren’t nervous at all, and we played very safe—we didn’t make easy mistakes,” explained GRIESEL. Mia added that she had prior experience partnering with MEI ROSU: “I’ve played doubles with Bianca a few times, so I know what she likes and what she doesn’t. Unfortunately, it works the other way around too—but we were definitely good enough.” Anna HURSEY highlighted the same key to their success: “For me as well, communication is the best part of this partnership. Mia’s previous experience of playing with Bianca helped a lot. We knew what to play and how. We were really good. Since we’re a new pairing, there was no pressure on us to win—we just played freely.” FACTS AND NUMBERS Bianca MEI ROSU had a unique opportunity to become the first player to win three consecutive U21 titles, but it was not to be. Partnered this year with Elena ZAHARIA, she lost to her former partner Mia GRIESEL, with whom she had won the title in 2023. GRIESEL, now playing alongside HURSEY, regained the title, while for Anna HURSEY, this marked her first-ever European title—a particularly special moment after losing the doubles final at the 2022 European Youth Championships in Belgrade alongside Sophie EARLEY. As for ZAHARIA, there will be no fourth U21 title this time. She remains tied in the all-time record books with Poland’s Milosz REDZIMSKI, each with three U21 gold medals.