Eduarda Gomes wins Roland Garros Junior Series and becomes the youngest champion in history By Thiago Lemos
4 min read
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Eduarda Gomes from Paraná won the Roland Garros Junior Series title this Sunday afternoon, in São Paulo, and wrote her name in the history of South American tennis. Aos 13 years old, the athlete defeated fellow Brazilian Maria Eduarda Carbone in the decision and became the youngest champion since the creation of the tournament. The result guarantees the tennis player directly in the Roland Garros youth main draw, at França, which takes place next May.
The triumph places the young woman from Paraná in a select group of national representatives on Parisian clay. With victory guaranteed on São Paulo soil, Duda, as it is called on the circuit, joins Nauhany Silva, Naná, and Victória Barros in the delegation that will compete for Grand Slam. The early classification caught the attention of the event’s international organization, which highlighted the Brazilian’s achievement on the official social networks of Aberto and França.
Brazilian Decisão on clay in São Paulo had balance and overcoming
The women’s final brought two of the main promises of national tennis face to face in different categories of maturity. Maria Eduarda Carbone, 15 years old, entered the court with the physical advantage, but encountered resistance in Eduarda Gomes’s backcourt play. The first set was decided only in a tie-break, after exchanges of long balls and tactical variations that lasted almost an hour of intense competition.
Gomes managed to maintain regularity in the decisive points and closed the first part in 7/6. In the second set, the 13-year-old took advantage of the favorable psychological moment to break her opponent’s serve right from the start. With a solid game and few unforced errors, she managed the advantage until closing the match with a 6/3, totaling 1h35min of the official match.
- Vitórias in the title campaign: 4 games
- Sets lost during the tournament: 0
- Champion’s Idade: 13 years old
- Tempo of the final: 1h35min
- Guaranteed Destino: Paris, França
Apoio family and training routine boost career
Logo After confirming the title, the tennis player from Paraná was moved when describing her journey to the top of the podium in São Paulo. Ela trains daily under the supervision of his father, who serves as coach and main supporter of his career since his first steps in the sport. The family structure was cited by the athlete as the fundamental pillar to withstand the pressure of facing older players in an under-17 tournament.
The young woman thanked her parents and grandfather for their logistical and emotional support during the weeks of intensive preparation. Para the athlete, the opportunity to compete in a youth Grand Slam so early is the culmination of a process that involves renunciations and full dedication to the sport. Ela defined the moment as the most exciting of his short, but already successful, professional career in tennis.
Leonardo Storck wins the men’s category and also joins França
Brazilian dominance in Roland Garros Junior Series was not restricted to the women’s group during this Sunday’s finals. In the men’s tournament, Leonardo Storck confirmed their favoritism by beating Colombian Juan Bolivar in the decisive match. The natural tennis player from Cuiabá, who is currently part of the Rio Tennis Academy team, demonstrated technical superiority to overcome his opponent and secure his place on European clay.
Aos 17 years old, Storck arrives at the French Grand Slam at a different stage of development compared to Eduarda Gomes, but with the same objective of projecting the name of Brasil on the world stage. The achievement reinforces the good moment of the country’s youth categories, which will have strong representatives in the two youth groups in Paris. The athletes’ preparation calendar is now entirely focused on adapting to the weather conditions and the type of clay found on the French courts.
Preparação to juvenile Grand Slam requires special logistics
With the places stamped, Confederação Brasileira of Tênis and the athletes’ teams begin planning for the trip to Europa. Disputar Roland Garros requires not only technique, but specific physical preparation to face long matches on a surface that requires a lot of lateral movement. Eduarda Gomes will have a few weeks to adjust the last details before facing the best youth tennis players in the ITF world rankings.
The Paris tournament is known for revealing talents who, in just a few years, rank among the elite ATP and WTA professionals. Para the new age record holder of Junior Series, the experience will serve as a high-level laboratory in her transition to larger international competitions. The technical committee’s expectation is that São Paulo’s performance will serve as fuel for it to maintain the aggressiveness demonstrated throughout the week of competition.
