In a repeat of last year’s triumph, Hungarian Máté Valkusz has been voted best player of the year in the under-16 age group by Tennis Europe.
The player from Budapest, who came first in the U-14 group in 2012, is the first to have become the continent’s best twice in a row, the Hungarian association has revealed.
16-year-old Valkusz, who is in 52th place in junior world rankings, had several successes to his name such as protecting his Masters title, his team’s qualifying to European Championships finals and an individual bronze medal at European Championships.
Born in 1998, Máté Valkusz has been playing tennis since he was five. Having won the title of Hungarian champion eleven times, he dreams to make it into the world’s TOP 20 tennis player as an adult. In 2012, he gained an enormous success by winning in doubles at his age group’s European Championships as a Hungarian after twenty-one years, coming third in individuals. At the finals of the Tennis European Master, which invites Europe’s eight best players in each age group, he came third before winning the world finals of the Nike Junior World Tour in December that year. His career has been assisted by Hungarian oil and gas company MOL’s talent assistance programme since 2012.
Among girls, Csenge Furák of Szeged came third in the under-16 age group.
via telesport.hu and molcsapat.hu