Vasami and Wallberg surge up junior rankings after Cairo triumphs
Italy’s Jacopo Vasami and Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden claimed silverware at the opening J500 event of the season after conquering all before them in Egyptian capital city Cairo.
Vasami captured the biggest title of his career, and his first since winning J200 Salsomaggiore in May 2024, by dispatching Savva Rybkin 6-2 6-2 in boys’ singles final. Victory propelled the 17-year-old 15 places in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings to a career-high No. 12.
It proved a particularly profitable week for Vasami, who teamed up with Poland’s Alan Wazny to claim silverware in the boys’ doubles, beating Spain’s Alvaro Jimenez and Ziga Sesko of Slovakia in the final.
“It feels great to be a J500 champion,” said Vasami, who is the first Italian boy to win a J500 singles title since Federico Bondioli won J500 Cairo in 2023. “It was one of my main goals, so I am very happy to win this challenging tournament.
“I am very satisfied with the week overall and it is a great win for me. It is great to start the year with such an important title and it gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.
“From this week, I am going to have a lot of great memories – I enjoyed every single minute of this tournament – and it was a real pleasure to be in Cairo.”
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It was a similar story for Wallberg in terms of the 17-year-old winning the biggest title of her career, while she has had to wait longer than Vasami to seal singles silverware. Her most recent title prior to J500 Cairo came at J200 Hammamet in January 2024.
“It feels amazing to win this J500 event – it is a big tournament and I am really happy with my performance,” said Walberg, who defeated Rada Zolotareva 7-6(5) 1-6 6-3 in the final to rise 47 places to No. 21 in the ITF World Tennis Tour girls’ rankings.
“Last year, I played in this event and lost in the first round so it is a really good comeback. It is the biggest title I have ever won. My goal now is to play the main draw of all the Junior Grand Slams this year – and hopefully win one.”
By winning in Cairo, Wallberg became the first Swedish girl to win a J500 singles title.
Following the Australian Open Junior Championships – the biggest junior event of 2025 so far, J500 Cairo was the first of seven J500 events on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors calendar this year.
As a reminder, J500 tournaments provide premier playing opportunities for players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and are effectively a rung below Junior Grand Slams in terms of standing and the ranking points on offer.
The next J500 event is J500 Gaspar, which gets underway on Monday 24 February.