The second half of the 2025 Fischer Indoor Junior Nationals crowned their champions in the Under 14 division at the UBC Tennis Centre in Vancouver and in the Under 18 division at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto.
In U18 girls’ singles, 15-year-old Elicia Xinyu Lin (3) of Alberta upset the first and second seeds to take the top honours, dropping only one set (against no.1 seed Anna Tabunshchyk of Ontario in the semifinals) on her way to her very first national title. In the final, Lin toppled no.2 seed Charlize Gabrielle Celebrini**, who’d played perfect tennis all week (7-5, 6-4). In the boys’ event, no.1 Miko Lapalme** (QC) and no.5 Benjamin Azar (ON) ruled the draw. On the final day, Lapalme came out on top (6-4, 6-4) to raise his third Canadian singles and first U18 winner’s trophy.
In doubles, the top teams consolidated their positions with final berths. On the girls’ side, the two singles finalists went head-to-head a second time as Lin and Amy Lu (BC) took on no.1 seeds Celebrini (BC) and Lily Rochon (ON) [1], with Celebrini and Rochon battling back from one set down to seal the win (4-6, 7-6(4), 10-7). Rochon, who took home the U16 doubles title last week, added a fourth Canadian doubles championship to her trophy case, and Celebrini earned her third. In the boys’ event, Ontarians Luke Laughlin and Edgar Vilain (2) had an easy road to the final but were ultimately outplayed by the top team of Azar and Volodymyr Gurenko (QC) (6-4, 6-4). With the win, Azar secured his fourth Canadian doubles title.
Meanwhile in Vancouver, there were plenty of surprises in store at the U14 event. In boys’ singles, none of the top three seeds survived to the semis. Alden S.K. Yu (6) of British Columbia and Ilya Sherifali (4) of Ontario powered through to the final, with Yu walking off the court with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win. In the girls’ competition, Tessa Sari Puente (1) of Ontario dominated the competition. She never lost more than five games in her matches throughout the tournament. In the final, she collided with Lynn Ke (4) of Québec who hadn’t dropped a set all week. In the end, Puente was the last girl standing (6-0, 6-2).
In girls’ doubles, the top-seeded team of Quebecers Élisabeth Djabourian* and Camille Michel* played solid tennis to make it to the ultimate showdown, where they took on the third-seeded team of Ontarians Tessa Sari Puente* and Elle Helen-Marie Tucci. At the outcome of the hard-fought confrontation, Puente and Tucci raised the winners’ trophy (6-4, 3-6, 10-1) to close out an impeccable week. In the boys’ final, no.1 seeds Deniz Karabulut* (ON) and Alden S.K. Yu* (BC) dug deep to produce a three-set win over the no.3 team of Matthew Popa* (QC) and Ilya Sherifali* (ON) (6-1, 3-6, 13-11).
That concludes the 2025 Fischer Junior Indoor Nationals. The competition picks up again in August, when the players return to battle out it again.
*Member of the U15 Canadian Prospect Team
**Member of the National Tennis Centre presented by Rogers
