Sweden’s Berta takes the boys’ title

Sweden’s Daniel Berta defeated Gianni Mina of France in a 90-minute, three-set epic to claim the French Open boys’ singles championship on Sunday. The 17-year-old French youngster was unable to match the achievement of compatriot Gael Monfils five years earlier, going down 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Suzanne Lenglen court. Everything seemed set fair for home favourite Mina to enjoy the most important match of his fledgling career, but his Swedish opponent remained calm throughout and handled the pressure far better. With his punchy forehands and backhands, Berta is able to find the lines just as well as his older compatriot Robin Soderling who played the men’s final later in the day. Mina launches fight-back Berta, who trains with Team Catella run by Soderling’s coach Magnus Norman and with whom he practised three times this week, pocketed the first set 6-1 in just 25 minutes. It was then a case of “now or never” for French youngster Mina, who took the bull by the horns, breaking Berta’s first service game and clenching his fist in celebration as his army of supporters roared him. Just like his lookalike Gael Monfils, the No11 seed Mina was rock-steady at the baseline, playing long, powerful shots and keeping his errors to a minimum. Caribbean-born Mina served out his remaining games to take the second set 6-3. "I knew he was going to fight back,” said Berta after the match. “I was expecting it because he has a tendency to start his matches badly. I just stayed focused.” The Swedish youngster hung tough in the decider then broke and held what were to be the last two games as Mina lost concentration and started racking up unforced errors. “I’ve really made progress over these two weeks,” said a disappointed yet realistic Mina afterwards. “I gave it my all. It’s a real shame that I didn’t win, but I’ll be back next year.” Berta preparing for the big time This was the first Grand Slam title for Berta, coached by Aloïs Beust and who acted as hitting partner for the Swedish Davis Cup team in their clash against Israel earlier this year. “I’ll finish the season in the juniors then I’ll go onto the men’s circuit,” the 16 year-old said after the match, and he will no doubt be hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Kent Carlsson (1984), Stefan Edberg (1983) and Mats Wilander (1981), who all won the junior title in the French before embarking on impressive careers on the men’s circuit.