vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #598 / Sports / Reading article...

Artyom Ilyushin, a 16-year-old tennis player from Vladivostok, won the finals of the Phinma International Tennis Federation Junior Circuit in Manila, Philippines, on December 2 capturing his first ITF title and skyrocketing in the world’s tennis junior rankings.

At the boys’ singles, Ilyushin confidently beat Philippines’ Francis Casey Alcantara 6-4, 6-3 despite the local audience’s intense support for the local player.

In the semifinals of the tournament, Ilyushin had defeated the top-seeded Huang Liang-chi of Taiwan in a two-set match.

Overall, the boys’ tournament gathered young players from 14 countries, from Great Britain to Japan.

The win at the ITF Junior Circuit brought Ilyushin about 600 positions up in the junior charts from the 1024th place as of beginning of 2007.

“The combination of training and playing in tournaments helped me obtain the best form and reach such results,” proudly shared Ilyushin, who is coached by Vitaly Gorin and Alexander Metreveli, two of the leading trainers in Russia.



Interestingly, the 16-year-old was present at the tournament alone, unlike most of the participants who were assisted by their personal trainers.

Ilyushin is a last-year student at a Vladivostok secondary school, where he makes excellent marks.

With his triumph at the junior tournament, Ilyushin has also made it to Russia’s top five junior players and has been included on the national reserves list for the Junior Davis Cup.