The first champion, tennis family mixed doubles, advantage for the "Sphinxes"
Saturday at the North Palmyra Trophies tournament turned out to be intense. Not a single match went without a decisive tie-break or a fierce battle in straight sets.
Russia's strongest junior, Wimbledon junior runnerup Yaroslav Demin, had to come back after losing the first set to Egor Pleshivtsev. He handled this task brilliantly and later, at the press conference, shared how Demin the tennis player differs from Demin off the court: «Off the court, I'm very cheerful, possibly funny, but not serious. But during matches, it seems like I'm ready to kill someone when I play. I get very angry. But I think that's even good.
In tennis, you need to have character. I definitely have that».
In the first professional match of the day, Adrian Mannarino, supported by two captains – Nikolay Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov – defeated Laslo Djere.
In both women's singles, battles worthy of a Grand Slam tournament unfolded. Anastasia Potapova and Veronika Kudermetova fought for 1 h 51 min, while Vera Zvonareva and Diana Shnaider battled for over two hours! In the end, Potapova brought a point to the ‘Lions’ and Shnaider to the ‘Sphinxes’.
Karen Khachanov looked the most relaxed on the court but engaged in the battle and not only came back after losing the first set to Dusan Lajovic but also edged him in the tie-break. However, after the match, the Russian admitted that the chase was not easy for him. «I almost collapsed, honestly. It was almost time to call an ambulance» he said.
The Saturday mixed doubles program concluded with the debut of the family pair Anastasia Potapova/Alexander Shevchenko against Yulia Putintseva and Roberto Bautista Agut. The Russians started the match well, but the opponents, who gained momentum after the first set, outperformed them in two tiebreaks.
After two days of play, the score is 4-3 in favor of the ‘Sphinxes’.
On Sunday, five more matches will take place, and the winners of the North Palmyra Trophies tournament will be determined. The program for the third day includes the junior girls' final between Victoria Milovanova and Daria Shadchneva, the showdown between Karen Khachanov and Adrian Mannarino, and the highlight of the program – Alexander Shevchenko vs. Alexander Bublik.
Russia's strongest junior, Wimbledon junior runnerup Yaroslav Demin, had to come back after losing the first set to Egor Pleshivtsev. He handled this task brilliantly and later, at the press conference, shared how Demin the tennis player differs from Demin off the court: «Off the court, I'm very cheerful, possibly funny, but not serious. But during matches, it seems like I'm ready to kill someone when I play. I get very angry. But I think that's even good.
In tennis, you need to have character. I definitely have that».
In the first professional match of the day, Adrian Mannarino, supported by two captains – Nikolay Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov – defeated Laslo Djere.
In both women's singles, battles worthy of a Grand Slam tournament unfolded. Anastasia Potapova and Veronika Kudermetova fought for 1 h 51 min, while Vera Zvonareva and Diana Shnaider battled for over two hours! In the end, Potapova brought a point to the ‘Lions’ and Shnaider to the ‘Sphinxes’.
Karen Khachanov looked the most relaxed on the court but engaged in the battle and not only came back after losing the first set to Dusan Lajovic but also edged him in the tie-break. However, after the match, the Russian admitted that the chase was not easy for him. «I almost collapsed, honestly. It was almost time to call an ambulance» he said.
The Saturday mixed doubles program concluded with the debut of the family pair Anastasia Potapova/Alexander Shevchenko against Yulia Putintseva and Roberto Bautista Agut. The Russians started the match well, but the opponents, who gained momentum after the first set, outperformed them in two tiebreaks.
After two days of play, the score is 4-3 in favor of the ‘Sphinxes’.
On Sunday, five more matches will take place, and the winners of the North Palmyra Trophies tournament will be determined. The program for the third day includes the junior girls' final between Victoria Milovanova and Daria Shadchneva, the showdown between Karen Khachanov and Adrian Mannarino, and the highlight of the program – Alexander Shevchenko vs. Alexander Bublik.
