Roumenov Defeats Fellow HEAD Team Elite Player Piro for Boys 16 Title

The Boys 16s singles final featured two members of Team Elite, and it was Spain’s Gueorgui Roumenov emerging as the champion, with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Stephane Piro of France.

The runner-up in October’s HEAD Team Elite Cup’s 16 and under division, Roumenov, who was unseeded at the Orange Bowl, beat three straight French opponents, knocking out sixth seed Jerome Inzerillo and Jonathan Eysseric in the quarterfinals and semifinals before topping the third seeded Piro in the finals.

“The last matches I didn’t play my best tennis, but today I played very good,” said Roumenov, who plays with the Flexpoint Radical OS, turns 16 on December 15. Roumenov came into the Orange Bowl very confident, having reached the quarterfinals in the boys 18s at the Grade 1 Eddie Herr the week before.

Piro also reached the finals in the Boys 16s doubles, where he and partner Nassim Slilam, seeded eighth, were outlasted by countrymen and seventh seeds Jerome Inzerillo and Jonathan Eyserric 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3).

Team Elite Member Elizabeth Plotkin of San Francisco California has earned her first Grade A ITF junior title, teaming with Jennifer-Lee Heinser to win the Girls 18s doubles at the prestigious Orange Bowl Championships in Key Biscayne Florida.

Plotkin and Heinser, the tournament’s sixth seeded team, broke out to an early lead in their final against fifth seeds Caroline Wozniacki and Anna Tatishvili, taking the first set 6-2, but they struggled to hold serve in the second set, losing it 6-2 before gaining a crucial break in the third set to go up 5-4.

Serving with her HEAD Liquidmetal Prestige MP, Plotkin sealed the victory by putting in five of six first serves under championship pressure.

"I was nervous," the seventeen-year-old Plotkin admitted, "but I had faith in my partner, so I trusted myself to just go for it."

Although the Orange Bowl was their first major junior title together, Plotkin and Heinser have posted many impressive results since they first teamed up in September of 2004, reaching the finals of the Grade 1 International Spring and Easter Bowl Championships in April.