Naina Yeltsina: “The tennis tournament in Kazan has become attractive for athletes from around the world”

(KZN.RU, March 3, Alena Miroshnichenko). The final of the IX International Tennis Tournament “Yeltsin Cup” was held today at the Kazan Tennis Academy. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, Naina Yeltsina, the wife of the first President of Russia and a member of the board of trustees of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Fund, Shamil Tarpishchev, the President of the Russian Tennis Federation, Tatiana Larionova, the deputy chairperson of the State Council of the RT, Vladimir Leonov, the Minister of Sports of the RT, Anastasia Myskina, an Honored Master of Sports of Russia in tennis, and others congratulated and awarded the winners in singles.

The competition started on February 23 and gathered more than 150 boys and girls, the best tennis players from 20 countries. At the awarding ceremony, Naina Yeltsina marked that the tournament went a very long way, having received the first international category and becoming the most honorable. “This year athletes from different parts of the world came to us. It shows that our tournament has become attractive, meaningful, and we are proud of it. I think that athletes here receive invaluable experience. They communicate in their professional environment, and everyone can prove themselves”, she said.

“The tournament always takes place on the courts of the Kazan Tennis Academy. It has a wonderful atmosphere here. I want to say a great thank you to the leadership of Tatarstan and Kazan for their attention to the sport and support of this tournament”, said the wife of the first President of Russia. “I heartily congratulate the winners and finalists. There are no easy victories. Each victory is earned by the hard work of an athlete and a coach, as well as the great support of relatives and friends”.

Today the best athletes in singles were determined on the court of the tennis academy. The game became the sixth one in the cup for the finalists, after three rounds, quarter-finals and semi-finals. The winner among the girls was Alina Charaeva, a tennis player from Samara. She defeated Daria Semenista from Latvia by the results of two final sets. “In the first set, I immediately took the score of 3:0, took Darya’s serve and played confidently. I think it was clear that I have an advantage”, Alina Charaeva commented on the final game. “Then Daria began to play more actively, I made a few mistakes, the sets went longer. I felt it was hard to breathe. When the first set was completed, I realized that I could not continue to play like that, I need to attack, because only this way I will achieve victory”.

As the tennis player told, she participates in the Yeltsin Cup for the third time, but it’s her first victory. “This tournament is considered the most prestigious in Russia. It is held at the beginning of the year, and those who are diligently preparing for the new season, the strongest players at the peak of their training come here in full force. This is a kind of opening of the year”, said the winner. The strongest athletes, in her opinion, are players from Russia, because they show solid character and are ready to fight to the end.

Eric Vanshelboym from Ukraine and Evgeny Filippov from Russia met in singles in the final among the young men. By the results of the three sets played, in which the advantage passed to one or the other athlete, the victory was won by the Ukrainian athlete. Eric Vanshelboym said that this was the first “Yeltsin Cup” for him. “This competition means a lot for a junior tennis player, because this is a first category tournament”, marked the athlete.

Earlier, the winners in doubles were determined in the tournament. Thus, the best among the girls were Nina Olyanovskaya and Valeria Olyanovskaya. They managed to beat their rivals Alina Charaeva and Maria Timofeeva in the final. Among young men, the best result was shown by a pair of Alexander Binda from Russia and Sergey Fomin from Uzbekistan. They entered the final court with their opponents from the UK James Storey and Oscar Weitman.

Shamil Tarpishchev noted that Boris Yeltsin was the one to draw attention to tennis in Russia. “At one time, he publicly went to court with a racket in his hand and this decided the fate of tennis. Young people followed him to the courts, and they began to pay tremendous attention to this sport”, he said.

Vladimir Leonov, the minister of Sports of the RT, noted that this tennis tournament plays a special role in the sports life of the republic. “Despite the huge number of competitions that we hold in Kazan and Tatarstan, the “Yeltsin Cup” is still a highlight for us. It is joyful that every year the mastery shown by athletes on the court is improving”, believes V. Leonov.

Kazan athletes also participated in the national team of Tatarstan. Thus, Polina Kudermetova is a step away from the final, losing to Darya Semenistaya, the silver medalist of the tournament. Also, Elizaveta Dementieva, Ruzel Fatkhullin, Anna Grigorieva, Maria Bondarenko, Alena Kubanova, Avelina Saifetdinova, Dana Shakirova, and Azalia Badegyeva took part in the tournament.

Tennis “Yeltsin Cup” is the only tournament in Russia for boys and girls under 19 years of the first international category. For beginners, it is a “pass ticket” to tennis. The prize fund of the tournament is 25 thousand dollars.