The opening rounds in the Men’s Group Stage at the European Under 21 Championships in Skopje announced exciting proceedings of the Championships in North Macedonia. A few favorites were already defeated or faced fierce challenges.
However the top-seeded player in qualifications Frenchman Flavien COTON was not among those who suffered. He overcame Miguel PANTOJA of Spain in straight games (6 10 9). In Group 2 Simon BELIK of Czechia also recorded a win over Daniel BERZOSA of Spain (9 9 12) but in the same group Mateusz ZELENGOWSKI of Poland was forced to go the full distance in the duel against Sharpel ELIA of Cyprus (-8 2 8 -6 8).
“I didn’t know much about the adversary because there weren’t videos on Youtube so I didn’t know what to expect. I was too nervous during the match. I was winning in the first game 6:2 and then the game was just lost. I lost the shape and the tactics started receiving badly and that was the key why the match was that tough ” explained ZELENGOWSKI who clinched the title at the WTT Youth Contender Linz 2023.
“Last year I won the title in Skopje in Mixed doubles but in singles I was pretty bad; I have to admit that but I really like the atmosphere here the city… For 2024 most likely I will try to qualify for the European Championships U19 and continue playing on a good score in the German league. Here I try not to have big expectations because when I create them they always disappear in the first rounds of the tournament. That was pretty close to happening today ” admitted ZELENGOWSKI.
A player who suffered an unpleasant fate in the opening round was the no. 14 seed Tom CLOSSET of Belgium who lost to no. 40 seed Wim VERDONSCHOT of Germany (-9 9 5 7). Adam KLAJBER of Slovakia the No. 15 seed lost to Petek BORNA of Croatia no. 38 seed (6 7 -8 12) and no. 44 seed Aljaz GODEC of Slovenia overcame Kas VAN OOST of Netherlands no. 18 seed (6 10 7).
