The top seed in the Men’s Singles Event at the European Under 21 Championships in Skopje Eduard IONESCU of Romania successfully began his journey in North Macedonia. However the complete spotlight today was stolen by Andre BERTELSMEIER of Germany who recorded two wins in straight games including one against the No. 5 seed Darius MOVILEANU of Romania.
BERTELSMEIER defeated Pierre KASES of Austria in the opening match of the Second stage of the Championships before overcoming MOVILEANU. Germany’s player is seeded at position No. 27.
“We played against each other twice before; he won the first one and I was better last time. Today it was crucial for me to fight for every ball. There comes my 4-0 win but the match was much closer than the result predicted today ” said BERTELSMEIER.
Top seed IONESCU overcame William BERGENBLOCK of Sweden and Kas VAN OOST of the Netherlands. “I am happy with my form; everything is falling into place on the way to the top ” said IONESCU.
European under 15 champion Tiago ABIOUDUN of Portugal ranked at position No. 52 in the seedings also recorded two wins in his group. He overcame Germany’s Matthias DANZER and Croatia’s Ivor BAN. Against BAN he was stretched to the full distance.
“At 3:1 I lost my pace. Leading 3:1 I realized I could be a little bit passive and at 3:2 I became very nervous. At 3:2 I started playing aggressively again. The last game was very hard but I continued fighting and managed to win. I did not change my game in the last three games. I followed the same tactics: a long service in the backhand and a short one in the forehand no spin and it turned out very well ” explained Tiago ABIODUN.
Speaking of last year Portugal’s player said: “2023 was a good year for me. I played in the U17 category for the first time and in Linz I made it to the semi-finals. Also U19 quarter-finals so I am very happy with my performance. In 2024 I will try to make it to the U19 World Championship and keep working for European events.”
Reigning champion Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland concluded the day successfully with wins over Flavien COTON of France and Ivan HENCL of Croatia.
“I try not to think of last year’s championships. This is a new chapter another tournament and all my thoughts are here just to play and fight. I do not feel any pressure; every player as you saw plays very well. I did not know my last opponent Ivan Hencl; he played very well so I must be fully focused on every match and fight ” said REDZIMSKI.
The last round of the second stage will be played tomorrow. The two best-ranked players from each group will progress to the round of 16.
