In the initial round of the Women’s Singles qualifications at the Under 21 European Championships favorites encountered early challenges. In Group 9 Maria BERZOSA seeded at position no. 46 caused an upset by defeating Germany’s Naomi PRANJKOVIC listed at position no. 21 in the seedings in straight games (9 9 10).
“The victory at the very beginning of the Championships is a great way to boost confidence and it gives me extra motivation to proceed ” said BERZOSA.
Maria BERZOSA had already garnered attention at the European Team Championships in Malmö. The 15-year-old recorded valuable wins over Tessy GONDERINGER of Luxembourg and Konstantina PARIDI of Greece contributing to Spain’s advancement to the quarterfinals.
“Maria seized the opportunities we gave her as the third player to the fullest. Her wins helped us achieve a very good result in Sweden ” said coach Silvia ERDELYI.
In the European Youth Championships last summer in Poland Maria secured bronze medals in all three categories: Under 15 Singles Doubles and Teams Event.
The opening round witnessed several more surprising outcomes. Iolanta YEVTODII of Ukraine ranked at position no. 33 defeated the no. 12 seed Agathe AVEZOU of France in three games (11 9 7). Matilda HANSSON of Sweden seeded at no. 37 emerged victorious over Emine ERNST of the Netherlands the no. 13 seed in a hard-fought five-game match (9 -10 8 -7 8).
“Perhaps it could have been an easier match. I lost my tactics in the fourth game. I believe I performed well in the third game and if I had continued in that manner it could have been easier. Nevertheless I am content. I think I could have made a comeback in the fourth game. I took a timeout and towards the end of the fourth game I felt I found my rhythm. I had some good shots missed a few but it wasn’t sufficient ” said Matilda HANSSON.
Viktoria PERSOVA of Bulgaria seeded at no. 44 secured a win against Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIU of Greece the no. 17 seed in straight games (6 9 7).
Mari BALDWIN of England the no. 41 seed overcame Leah TVEIT MUSKANTOR of Sweden seeded at position no. 18 after five games (-7 -7 14 6 8). Additionally Jana RIERA of Spain seeded at position no. 43 succeeded in the match against Adriana ILLASOVA of Slovakia the no. 20 seed in five games (7 -12 -7 7 7).
