The audience witnessed high-quality and entertaining tennis during today’s first-round matches at Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris this Monday. Swedish player Eric Ten (Åby TK) came close to causing an upset as he pushed top-seeded Richard Krizan to three sets after impressive play in the final match on court 4. However, the Slovakian held up under pressure and managed to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the end. Also, second-seeded Pavel Oliver Dufek from the Czech Republic advances, and on the girls’ side, both top-seeded players – Jana Kovackova from the Czech Republic and Keisija Berzina from Austria – advance to the second round. One of the many fun matches was the local player William Repakis (Upsala TK) against Evgenii Kafelnikov. The Swede played superbly in the second set, but Kafelnikov was the stronger player in the end, winning in straight sets.
More from a Swedish perspective: Filippa Eckersten (Svedala TK) and Grace Bernstein (Good to Great) advance to the second round. Grace Bernstein recently won the Ullevi Tennis Europe in Gothenburg and hopes to go far in the home tournament in Stockholm. “I think I served well, and I’m pleased with how I moved and hit the ball. This tournament means a lot, but I take it one match at a time,” says Grace, who will face fourth-seeded Anna Pircher from Austria in the next round.
For Filippa Eckersten, today’s victory meant a lot. “It felt very good, it means a lot. It’s definitely one of the best wins in my career,” said Filippa Eckersten.
The four players who were in the final of Tim Essonne in Paris Category 1 will play their first matches on Tuesday; Daniella Britton, Great Britain, and Xinran Sun, China on the girls’ side, and Alex Tuomolin, Finland, and Eric Lorimer, Great Britain, on the boys’ side.
Tuesday’s matches start at 10:30 and begin with two rounds of singles, followed by doubles.