ISB's Fabian Sandrup Selvik celebrates his 6-1, 6-3 win over George Shaffer of Naples in the boys singles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
ISB's Fabian Sandrup Selvik celebrates his 6-1, 6-3 win over George Shaffer of Naples in the boys singles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
George Shaffer of Naples returns a shot from ISB's Fabian Sandrup Selvik in the boys singles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. Shaffer lost the match 6-1, 6-3. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
ISB's Fabian Sandrup Selvik slams the ball across the net in his 6-1, 6-3 win over George Shaffer of Naples in the boys singles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Patch's Marissa Encarnacion returns a shot from her teammate Marina Fortun in the girls single final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. Encarnacion won the match 6-1, 6-1. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Patch's Marina Fortun returns a shot from teammate Marissa Encarnacion in the girls single final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. Encarnacion won 6-1, 6-1. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
ISB's Maxime Dumortier, right, celebrates with teammate Bram den Dekker after defeating Patch's Peyton Fritz and Devin Rehwaldt 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 in the boys doubles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Patch's Devin Rehwaldt slams the ball over the net as teammate Payton Fritz watches in the boys doubles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. The Patch duo fell to ISB's Bram den Dekker and Maxime Dumortier 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
ISB's Bram den Dekker hits the ball over the net against Patch in the boys doubles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. Den Dekker and partner Maxime Dumortier beat Payton Fritz and Devin Rehwaldt 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 for the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
ISB's Megumi Ogasawara returns a shot against Wiesbaden as partner Maya Yoshihashi watches in the girls doubles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. The ISB duo beat Wiesbaden's Jackie Renzi and Peyton Taylor 6-1, 7-5 to take the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
ISB's Maya Yoshihashi returns a ball against Wiesbaden in the girls doubles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. Yoshihashi and teammate Megumi Ogasawara beat Wiesbaden's Jackie Renzi and Peyton Taylor 6-1, 7-5 to take the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden's Jackie Renzi returns a shot in the girls doubles final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. Renzi and teammate Peyton Taylor lost to the ISB duo of Maya Yoshihashi and Megumi Ogasawara 6-1, 7-5. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN-NORDENSTADT, Germany – International School of Brussels won all the finals it was entered in Saturday at the 2014 DODDS European Tennis Championships and was just a Patch showdown shy of a clean sweep.
ISB’s Maxime Dumortier and Bram Den Dekker defeated Patch’s Devin Rehwaldt and Payton Fritz 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 earning the duo a title in boys’ doubles play in a match that went nearly three hours and was one of the hardest-fought of the tournament.
ISB coach Bernard deConinck said the Raiders’ success was a result of lots of hard, intensive work tied with strength, technical skill, and mental toughness. “With the lack of practice space, we were forced to use a lot of cooperative drills, which created team spirit,” deConinck said. “Team spirit is our top priority.”
ISB also took the top spot in girls’ doubles with Megumi Ogasawara and Maya Yoshihashi defeating Wiesbaden’s Peyton Taylor and Jackie Renzi 6-1, 7-5.
In boys’ singles action, ISB’s Fabian Sandrup Selvik is the 2014 singles champion; Patch’s Marissa Encarnacion earned the title in girls’ action.
“I came out today ready to win,” Selvik said after closing the match against Naples’ George Shaffer in a hard-fought second set. “He gave me a lot of fight at the end, but I’m happy I pulled through.”
Selvik eventually beat Shaffer 6-1, 6-3 after taking an early 5-0 lead by capitalizing on Shaffer’s early inconsistency with his backhand.
“During the second set his backhand improved a lot, so I had to change it up a bit,” Selvik said.
Selvik placed fourth in the tournament two years ago, and was runner-up last year.
“It feels great — the last two years I’ve been so close,” Selvik said.
Encarnacion, due to a regular-season injury, barely qualified for the tournament. But she was dominant in tournament play, culminating with a 6-1, 6-1 win over teammate Marina Fortun.
“I felt pretty good, but it’s always hard playing against your best friend,” Encarnacion said following her win. “I am quite happy because I was struggling getting into Europeans because I broke my ankle and was out for the first three games of the season. But I guess everything happens for a reason.”
Wiesbaden junior Jade Sullivan brought home the bronze following her defeat of Ramstein freshman Alexi Aldinger 6-4, 6-2.
Bahrain’s Frank Li and Moustafa Refai earned third in boys’ doubles by defeating Alconbury’s Dylan Howorth and Joey Behr 6-2, 6-0. Vicenza’s Kiki Sibilla and Katleen Leosk took third in girls’ doubles by defeating AFNORTH’s Amelie and Sophia Essrich 6-0, 7-6, (7-2).
