WIESBADEN, Germany – Vicenza’s Erik Findlay and David Spencer were relieved to see American Overseas School of Rome’s Leonardo Delgato and Gianluca Vacca in the boys doubles final of the 2026 DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday morning.

That’s not because they believed the Falcons were an easy match.

Sure, Findlay and Spencer had defeated them three times during the regular season, but Delgato and Vacca got the better of the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the last pool-play match on Friday at T2 Sports Health Club to win the group.

But the familiarity of their opponents was a nice respite from the rest of the tournament.

“We played entirely new people throughout this tournament, so we had to get into the match, understand how they play and adapt,” Findlay said. “This one, we went in knowing. So, I think that was beneficial for us.”

Like their regular-season meetings, the Cougars defeated their Falcon counterparts in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to claim the European crown.

Findlay advanced to last season’s final with Michael Gillett where they lost. The junior reconnected with his doubles partner from his freshman year this fall, and they got over the hump.

“That was probably the best match we played against them,” Findlay said. “All of us played our best in that match.”

The four put on a show.

Even in the losing effort, Delgato wowed the crowd with a between-the-legs shot while near the net.

With the Cougars leading 4-2 in the first set, they and the Falcon pair played a long game where nobody could get the upper hand. Every time someone got game point, the other team scored.

It led Findlay to call out jokingly one time before he served after he and Spencer failed to clinch the game, “Can anyone guess what the score is?”

“This is a really fun experience,” Spencer said. “Instead of saying, ‘Oh, you got to win out there,’ (our coaches) say, ‘Have fun out there.’ This was a really fun match to play. Winning is the cherry on top.”

Boys singles

In the singles final between Stuttgart’s Matthew Suber and SHAPE’s Jesus Lukas, both players were more likely to break their opponent’s serve than hold on their own.

Yet Lukas found himself on Saturday afternoon serving for the match and a European crown.

“I was a little bit scared, to be honest, for the last round,” Lukas said. “I was just trying to be positive and motivated and end that game.”

The junior won that game and the match 6-4, 6-4, claiming a European title for a SHAPE program that has been seeking to return to the top for some time.

Lukas, who has played the sport since he was 7 years old, said he suited up for the Spartans simply to bring home the gold.

“I’ve been waiting for this the whole season,” Lukas said. “That’s probably the only reason I wanted to play, and I’m very glad I can make it today.”

The third seed showed his respect for top-seeded Suber’s serving by standing much farther behind the line than most. And that meant staying back on second serves, as the Panther didn’t take anything off the next attempt.

“I saw from my opponent that his serve is very strong, and he had a strong top spin,” Lukas said. “So, I was trying to stay defensive.”

Lukas’ performance and that of doubles teammates Samuele Scaranaro and Samuel Diez Vega, who placed fourth after falling to Stuttgart’s Brian Bonanno and Nicholas Prewitt in the third-place match 8-6, clinched the runner-up trophy for SHAPE with 16 points.

Stuttgart took first with 18 points.

Lukas praised his teammates’ performance over the three days.

“For all of us, it was a very good experience,” Lukas said. “We grew as a team as well. So, I’m just happy.”