Former great tennis player Ilie Nastase says that out of the children who participate in the tournaments organized by Dr. Oetker will come out another no. World No. 1, as was the case with WTA No. 1, Iga Swiatek.

„This year is important to me, I got to the tie-break… 76 years old, but I feel good. In our time there were no such tournaments, but all the better that they exist now. I have noticed that there are children from all countries. Surely we will find out later that among these players comes out the world number 1, as we understood that it was the Polish (n.r. – Iga Swiatek), which we saw yesterday in the final in Rome. That’s the idea of this tournament, to give the next champions. Children who play in this tournament receive points and do not have to spend money to play elsewhere,” said Ilie Nastase, who was present at the National Tennis Center at the conference related to the Xth edition of the Dr. Oetker Junior Trophy.

Ioan Cozma, General Manager Dr. Oetker Romania: „I thank Master Ilie Nastase for being with us. It’s a performance that we have reached the tenth edition. 3 years ago we said that we wanted to make the Dr. Oetker Junior Trophy a Petit As (n.r. – tournament in France reserved for children aged between 12 and 14 years) in this part of Europe and it seems that we have achieved our goal. This year we have 240 players from 25 countries, it’s something that makes me proud and I want to keep going. I’m really glad that I managed this performance.

„But they are not only our merits, but also those of the Tennis Federation who has an exercise in organizing these tournaments. And the federation is very dedicated to this tournament. In the past we have organized at Tennis Club Curtea de Arges the Summer Camp Girls tournament for juniors under 16 years old, in which national teams participated. Currently this tournament is organized in Timisoara, but we want to take it back. What I’m saying is that at the Dr. Oetker Junior Trophy, in 2012, Iga Swiatek also participated… that you may see where the champions come from.”

At this anniversary competition Dr. Oetker Junior Trophy, which is part of tennis Europe U 14, category 1, which will be played from May 16-22, about 240 athletes from 25 countries have announced their presence.

George Cosac – „It is the tenth edition of the Dr. Oetker Junior Trophy, it is the biggest Under 14 tournament in South-Eastern Europe. It’s a competition that has grown from year to year. Without these tournaments, children cannot develop and fulfill their dreams. The dream of becoming like Simona Halep, Horia Tecău, Andrei Pavel and, why not, Ilie Nastase. All countries with developed tennis have dozens or even hundreds of tournaments of this kind.”

„That’s because these children play at home, they have the support of their parents and those in the stands, they are used to the environment and so on and so on and in this way it is easier for them to get the points needed to climb the world rankings. Thanks to Mr. Cozma we have the tenth edition of the tournament, and today we have almost 50 boys on the main draw and 42 girls. Thus, they have the opportunity to try their powers, to score and to climb the world rankings.”

During the Dr. Oetker Junior Trophy ceremony at the National Tennis Center, the Young Talents Trophy was awarded.

Thus, Andreea Kurta was awarded – for girls, respectively Radu Andrei – for boys.

Also, during this ceremony was announced the Fair Play Trophy „in memoriam Florence Mihai”, which was awarded by the Tournament Director Dr. Oetker Junior Trophy, Cătălina Cristea.

The official sponsor of the tournament organized by the Romanian Tennis Federation is Dr. Oetker Romania, and the promoter of the competition is Harmony Advertising.

The brands that support the tournament, about which you can find out information on the juniortrophy.ro, are: Pizza Ristorante from Dr. Oetker, Paula Pudding from Dr. Oetker and Bambino Party from Angelli.

(Photo: Facebook Tennis Stars)