North Vancouvers Filip Peliwo made his second consecutive junior Grand Slam tennis final on Sunday and for the second straight time ended up with the smaller trophy, this time losing to Belgian Kimmer Coppejans in the French Open final at Roland-Garros.
Peliwo, seeded No. 5 in the tournament, won his first five singles matches but couldnt keep it rolling in the final, losing 6-1, 6-4 to the sixth-seeded Coppejans.
In January Peliwo made the Australian Open junior final where he lost in three tough sets to world No. 1-ranked junior Luke Saville. After that match Peliwo told the North Shore News he was disappointed with the loss but proud of the way he played, vowing to do what he could to get back into a Grand Slam final and win.
That opportunity came in the very next Grand Slam tournament but again he fell short in the final. This time around, however, Peliwo seemed to be much more ill-at-ease with the loss, slamming his racket to the ground after Coppejans clinched match point.
"If I hadn't let my anger out there would have been something seriously wrong with me," Peliwo told the Canadian Press after the French final. "This was the most disappointing day of my life.
"I'm not proud of breaking a racquet, but it happens sometimes. I got angry but I wasn't a sore loser. I told him he played a good match. It wasn't like I was an angry little kid on court, it was just one moment. I did find it impossible to smile for the (post-match) picture, though."
Peliwo, 18, produced four break chances against Coppejans but was unable to convert any of them while the Belgian managed to convert two break points in the first set and one in the second.
"I'm extremely disappointed, this was much worse than in Australia," said Peliwo. "There I put up a fight and played decent there. Here I was just really bad. My opponent played better than I've ever seen him play. I can't make excuses, he was better than me."
Despite the loss, Peliwos strong showing in the tournament moved him up to No. 4 in the world junior rankings released Monday. He is scheduled to stay in Europe to play tournaments in preparation for his next shot at Grand Slam glory, the Wimbledon junior championships which are scheduled for the first week of July.
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