25.10.2025 22:41
National tennis player Zeliha Nil Çukurluoğlu became the champion at the European Youth Masters Tournament held in Monaco. The young athlete also added her name to the list of historic figures in the tournament, following Rafael Nadal, who won the boys' under-14 category in 2000.
Turkey's young tennis talent Zeliha Nil Çukurluoğlu became Turkey's first Junior Masters champion in the Girls'14 & Under category by defeating her opponent Emilia Henningsen 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 after a great struggle.
TURKEY'S FIRST JUNIOR MASTERS CHAMPION
Our athlete, who made a quick start to the final match, gained the upper hand by breaking serve in the first game. However, she lost the first set after her Danish opponent won five games in a row. The second set progressed almost in the exact opposite scenario of the first set. Zeliha Nil brought the match back to balance by converting three of the six break points she earned.
In the deciding set, Çukurluoğlu raised her performance even higher, winning 89% of her first serves and breaking serve four times to win six of the last seven games. She experienced great joy with the victory that came on her first match point. This victory not only marks the biggest achievement of Zeliha Nil Çukurluoğlu's career but also recorded as her first championship of the year. The young athlete, who won two doubles championships during the season (one in the Super Category Maia) and finished second at the Open Stade Français held in Paris, entered the Masters in eighth place.
SHE JOINED THE NAMES THAT MADE HISTORY
In the organization held in Monte-Carlo, Çukurluoğlu, who is an athlete of the Rafa Nadal Academy, passed the group stage without losing a set. Thus, she added her name to the list of historical figures in the same tournament after Rafa Nadal, who became the champion in the Boys'14 & Under category in 2000.