A unique victory for a new tennis star from Russia. Only a few hold this title

Throughout 2023, Russian Alina Korneeva shone at the Grand Slam tournaments.

And now the young star’s collection of trophies has been replenished with another prestigious award, which only a few have won.

Road to the final tournament

Korneeva made people talk about her in glowing terms after winning the Australian Junior Open in January. Since then, Alina managed to win Roland Garros in her age category and reach the Wimbledon final. She missed the US Open due to visa problems.

Naturally, with such results, Korneeva could not remain without an invitation to the ITF Junior Final Tournament in Chengdu, China, held since 2015. In the first draw of the tournament, Andrei Rublev became the best among the guys. Among the girls, the Russian Anna Blinkova also holds the prestigious title. The tournament has not been held since 2020 due to the suspension of China by the WTA and ATP leaders.

This year the main competition for juniors was resumed. Alina arrived in Chengdu in good shape. She won two of the three meetings in the group stage, finishing first in the quartet. The only one whom Korneeva could not cope with was the Japanese Sara Saito, who defeated the Russian in three games – 6:0, 3:6, 4:6. This tennis player is very familiar to our athlete: at Roland Garros they played together in doubles and reached the final.

Alina Korneeva Photo: © Robert Prange / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“I can finally rest”

At the tournament in Chengdu, the tennis players again reached the main match, but now in singles. The rivalry promised to be exciting, given the three-set group stage match. Even the beginning turned out the same. Alina quickly found the rhythm of the game and took the first set in just six games – 6:0. The Japanese woman was sorely lacking in accuracy. The balls she sent regularly went out of bounds.

In the second set, Alina still faced resistance. The Japanese woman did not want to give up and made her opponent nervous. Korneeva even threw her racket at the surface after one of the unsuccessful plays. But at the end of the game, the Russian woman broke out, completely outplaying her opponent. In the end, Saito took only three games.

“I’m happy that I managed to perform well this week and win, but I’m more glad that I can finally rest. Thanks to the fans who supported me at this tournament. I hope this is not my last time in China, see you next year,” Korneeva said in an interview after the match.

As a prize, the Russian woman will receive a cash grant in the amount of $18.5 thousand (1.8 million rubles), which will allow her to travel to professional tournaments for free. Also, her ITF junior rating will be increased by 750 points. Korneeva is currently ranked 165th in the WTA rankings and will probably break into the top 100 next season as she focuses on participating in adult tournaments. The junior stage for Alina ended in real triumph.