Townsend, Chirico And Andrews Capture Junior Fed Cup For US

Written by: Staff on 2nd October 2012

Townsend, Chirico And Andrews Capture Junior Fed Cup For US |

The USTA announced that the U.S. Junior Fed Cup team of Taylor Townsend (Stockbridge, Ga.), Louisa Chirico (Harrison, N.Y.) and Gabrielle Andrews (Pomona, Calif.) captured the championship at the Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Final on Sunday in Barcelona, Spain, defeating Russia, 3-0, in the final. This is the second title for the U.S. in the 16-and-under version of Fed Cup, both coming in the last five years.

The U.S. Junior Davis Cup team of Noah Rubin (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Stefan Kozlov (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Jared Donaldson (Cumberland, R.I.) took third place in the Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Final, defeating France, 2-0, in the third-place match-up (doubles not played).

Of the 11 nations with teams competing in both Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup, only the United States finished in the top three of each event. Overall, 21 nations were represented across the two events.

The top-seeded U.S. Junior Fed Cup Team, captained by USTA National Coach Kathy Rinaldi, went 14-0 in singles and doubles matches throughout the 16-nation World Final. Townsend, 16, ranked No. 1 among all players 18 and younger in the ITF World Junior rankings, went 5-0 in singles, and partnered with Andrews, 15, to win all four of their doubles matches. Chirico, 16, who trains at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., did not lose a set in going 5-0 in singles play.

The U.S. Junior Fed Cup team defeated Spain, Korea and Egypt in group play, all by a 3-0 score, and dropped Brazil, the third-place finisher, 2-0, in the semifinal (doubles not played). The 14-0 match record for the U.S. replicates the performance by the 2008 U.S Junior Fed Cup championship team, which included Sloane Stephens and Christina McHale.

The U.S. Junior Davis Cup team, captained by USTA National Coach Nicolas Todero, achieved its best finish since winning its second Junior Davis Cup title in 2008. The U.S., the No. 1 seed in the 16-nation field, defeated Brazil, Japan and Russia in group play before falling to Australia, the runner-up to champion Italy, in the semifinal.

Rubin, 16, and Kozlov, 14, each went 4-1 in singles play, their only losses coming against Australia. Donaldson, 15, paired with Kozlov, the youngest player in the entire Junior Davis Cup field, to go 2-0 in doubles matches, while he and Rubin fell to Brazil in their only doubles match together.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Gabrielle Andrews, Junior Davis Cup, Junior Fed Cup, Louisa Chirico, Taylor Townsend, Tennis News, Usta